Raiders coach Jon Gruden sees a ‘building block’ in thrilling win over Broncos in finale
Each season in coach Jon Gruden’s second run with the team, the Las Vegas Raiders have finished with a better record than the year before.
Sure, a playoff berth was on the franchise’s collective mind for much of year 3 of the Gruden reboot, but an 8-8 finish will have to do after a 32-31 win over the Denver Broncos in the 2020 season-ender on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High.
The go-ahead score was a two-point conversion, as Derek Carr found tight end Darren Waller in the end zone.
The two-point pass came after a Josh Jacobs 1-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds remaining. Defensive end Maxx Crosby sealed the win by blocking Brandon McManus’ 63-yard field goal attempt with 2 seconds to play.
“I think it’s going to be a huge building block for us,” Gruden said in a teleconference. “We got mentally tougher and we learned how to adapt. Things aren’t always going to be perfect. If we could ever enjoy a meal together again, it will be a great, great day. Every day was different, and I credit all the people involved to make the season possible.
“It wasn’t how we wanted to finish, but there are a whole lot of people who deserve a great amount of credit for us to even have a chance to compete like we did this year.”
In 2018, the Raiders finished 4-12,then followed with a 7-9 record last season.
This season, the Raiders were in many of the games that could have gone their way but instead ended in losses, with those and other miscues ending hopes for their first postseason bid since 2016.
A 2020 campaign that began 6-3 — despite being besieged by injuries and coronavirus restrictions and scares — saw them have a postseason bid in their grasp before things turned sour with a string of disappointing games down the stretch.
“We obviously are sick that it’s over,” Gruden said. “We didn’t expect to lose that game (to the Miami Dolphins) last week. We thought we had a chance to beat the Chargers. We had the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football late in the game. We’ve got to learn from these things. We’ve got to improve our four-man pass rush and we’ll get into all the things we need to do later.
“But one thing this team does know how to do: compete. They will compete every week. They won six games on the road, which has been very uncommon for teams in Raider history to go on the road and win six times. There’s a lot to be positive about.”
Carr led the Raiders to another come-from-behind win, notching his 21st fourth-quarter comeback and 24th game-winning drive.
He finished 24-of-38 passing for 371 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions. He finished the season with 4,103 passing yards and 27 touchdowns versus nine interceptions.
Carr said he’s happy how teammates responded throughout the season.
“I’ve seen in my seven years, I’ve seen some Raiders teams where guys tap out,” he said. “I’ve seen it. It may not be perfect, we may not have won 10 games this year, may not have been in the playoffs, but there’s something about this group that we’re just not built that way. That stuff right there is the kind of character I’ve been talking about from the beginning. Why I feel it’s different, why I think we’re heading in the right direction and all those good things. It’s the football character, right there.
“It didn’t end up how we wanted, but very, very excited to see our guys fight through some stuff. Our young guys learn that on the fly, learn that the hard way, but usually when your top players or your best players, the ones that play the most are the ones showing, ‘Hey, I’ll fight through something or do something like that,’ on any football team, is what I’m saying. That’s good for the whole team to look at that and see that if (the leaders) are doing that, then we should too.”
Waller, Jacobs, Carr milestones
There were several achievements of note during the game. Among the key accomplishments:
▪ For the first time in Raiders history, the team recorded a 4,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in back-to-back seasons (Carr, Jacobs and Waller).
▪ Kicker Daniel Carlson set the franchise record for most points in a single season (144), surpassing Sebastian Janikowski’s 142 in 2010.
▪ Jacobs became the first running back in franchise history to begin his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
▪ Waller became the franchise’s single-season receptions record holder with 107 catches, passing Tim Brown’s mark of 104.
▪ Tight end Jason Witten surpassed Tony Gonzalez for most career appearances (271) by a tight end in NFL history.
This story was originally published January 3, 2021 at 8:19 PM.
