In the final game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the Oakland Raiders were shockingly defeated by the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-16, despite leading for most of the game.
The Raiders had the ball leading 16-13 late and were attempting to run out the clock when Derek Carr picked up a first down with his legs. After picking up the first down, Carr clearly gave himself up in bounds by sliding with 2:05 remaining on the clock.
The Jaguars only had one timeout remaining at the time, so the hope was that the clock would tick down to the two-minute-warning, and then three run plays would essentially run out the clock, leading to an emotional Raiders victory in their final game in Oakland.
Instead, the officials inexplicably ruled that Carr did not give himself up and was out of bounds, stopping the clock at the 2:05 mark to effectively give Jacksonville an extra timeout. To make matters worse, Carr spent some time celebrating the first down, thinking the two-minute warning was coming, and Oakland wound up being flagged for a delay of game penalty.
Jon Gruden attempted to challenge the play but it was deemed not reviewable, so it also cost the Raiders a timeout. They wound up being forced to kick a field goal, which Daniel Carlson missed, and the Jaguars marked down the field on the ensuing drive to score the game-winning touchdown.
After the game, Gruden expressed his displeasure with the call that he still did not receive an explanation for, via Josh Schrock of NBC Sports:
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jon Gruden said after the game. “People up in the press box are clearly telling me he gave himself up in the field of play. And I’m waiting for the clock to wind to two minutes. I’m still waiting. And it never happened. Unbelievable. I thought somebody would overturn it. I thought that’s the reasoning for instant replay. We’ve had New York City chime in and make a couple calls — one in Kansas City, one in New York — and I thought they’d make one today to correct it. Obviously, it was a big play in that situation We’ll see what the league says about it.”
Carr knows better than anyone that he slid in bounds, so he was extremely surprised when he learned that the officials ruled him out:
“It was one of the more shocking moments of my life,” Carr said of the call. “If I’m being honest. I understand the rule differently I guess. I don’t want to get into that. If they want to talk about it, y’all can have a press conference with the refs. Maybe they’ll do that someday. I won’t get into what they said. I’ll keep my money in my pocket.”
Regardless of what the league comes out and says about the call, it will not change the outcome. It’s unfortunate because instead of being able to celebrate with the Black Hole one final time, Gruden and Carr were booed off the field by the Oakland faithful after the loss.
At 6-8, the Raiders are not officially eliminated from postseason contention yet, but the loss to the Jaguars can essentially end any hopes of making the dance.
