In the moments leading up to Sunday’s Raiders game in Kansas City, retiring Oakland safety Charles Woodson gathered his teammates along the sideline for a pep talk.
He told them that even though the Raiders weren’t playing for a playoff spot or to knock the Chiefs out of one, he expected them to end the season with maximum effort and a final win to end their season at .500 for the first time since 2011.
“We’re playing for the Oakland Raiders,” he yelled to his teammates. “We’re playing for respect. We’re playing for the 8-8. We’re playing for the love of the game!”
Unfortunately for Woodson and the Raiders, the outcome didn’t follow the hoped-for script. The Raiders fell to the streaking Chiefs – who won their 10th straight – 23-17 in Arrowhead Stadium.
The loss dropped the Raiders’ final record of 2015 to 7-9, their fifth straight season with a losing record and their 13th straight without a winning record.
And, in doing so, the Raiders exhibited very little of the explosiveness and talent that surfaced this year on a team that improved from 3-13 under first-year head coach Jack Del Rio and his staff and now appears primed to continue rising in the AFC West in 2016.
On Sunday, the Raiders offense failed to produce a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, at that point trailing 23-10 and the outcome settled; Oakland’s only previous TD came on cornerback David Amerson’s 24-yard interception return in the second quarter.
Sports
Quarterback Derek Carr had one of his least effective games of the season, completing 21-of-33 throws for 194 yards for the one TD – to Michael Crabtree with 2:05 remaining -- and an interception. Running back Latavius Murry could muster just 31 yards rushing on 11 carries.
The Raiders offense could collect just 205 total yards, while the Chiefs put up 339 and dominated the time of possession, 34:55-25:05.
Carr also fell just short of the 4,000-yard passing mark for the season, having come into the game needing 207. And linebacker/defensive end Khalil Mack finished the season with 15 sacks, one short of the team single-season record. Mack, who entered the game leading the NFL in sacks, was surpassed by the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt for the league title. Watt had two Sunday.
In the final game of his career, Woodson finished with seven tackles.
Still, the Raiders in 2015 improved their record by four games under Del Rio, the largest single-season victory increase since 2000, when the team jumped from 8-8 in 1999 to 12-4.
