Storybook Season Snapped
Silver & Black Illustrated|February/March 2017

Raiders can’t overcome injury to star QB Carr.

Michael Wagaman
Storybook Season Snapped

As he lay on the turf of the Oakland Coliseum clutching his right leg as a stunned and disbelieving Raider Nation looked on in eerie silence on Christmas Eve, Derek Carr said the two words no one wanted to hear, two words that diagnosed his injury long before doctors put a hand on him and two words that wound up describing what was a magical season turned suddenly wrong.

“It’s broke,” said Carr immediately after the hit, uttering the phrase over and over as the gravity of the situation began to take hold. “It’s broke. It’s broke. It’s broke. It’s broke.”

What had been a storybook season of redemption for the Raiders quickly turned into a nightmare the moment Carr’s leg snapped. As the team filed into the locker room after the game — a game that ended with Oakland’s 12th victory of the season — there was a palpable feeling of defeat.

The celebratory high-fives and back-slaps that normally come after a team wins had been replaced by an air of resignation, as if the players realized their hopes for a trip to the Super Bowl rode out of the Oakland Coliseum on the cart that whisked Carr off the field after his injury.

It was a feeling that never went away, either. Not the following week in Denver and not the week after that in Houston.

In the two games after Carr’s injury, the Raiders looked more like Mike Tyson trying to get up and awkwardly looking for his mouthpiece after getting knocked down by Buster Douglas. Like Tyson, they never saw the punch of losing their quarterback coming and they never recovered from it.

Not that anyone on the roster or the coaching staff would admit to it. Expectedly, almost everyone insisted that Carr’s injury had nothing, or very little, to do with how the season ended.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February/March 2017-Ausgabe von Silver & Black Illustrated.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February/March 2017-Ausgabe von Silver & Black Illustrated.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS SILVER & BLACK ILLUSTRATEDAlle anzeigen
‘We have to be a much more detailed football team'
Silver & Black Illustrated

‘We have to be a much more detailed football team'

Like so many Raiders fans, coach Jon Gruden found himself searching for answers after the Raiders’ second-half collapse that cost the team a spot in the expanded playoffs.

time-read
7 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Silver & Black Illustrated

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Starting Tackle Kolton Miller is entering the final year of his rookie contract.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
Wanted: Defensive coordinator
Silver & Black Illustrated

Wanted: Defensive coordinator

The Raiders didn’t wait long to begin their search for a new defensive coordinator, and it’s becoming clear that Jon Gruden has already narrowed his list down.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
Raiders' good, bad, ugly
Silver & Black Illustrated

Raiders' good, bad, ugly

Raiders’ good, bad, ugly

time-read
3 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
NEWS & NOTES
Silver & Black Illustrated

NEWS & NOTES

The Raiders had one of the easier schedules in 2020 and got only eight wins to show for it. Things won’t get any easier in 2021, either.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
Looking back at 2020 season
Silver & Black Illustrated

Looking back at 2020 season

The 2020 season will absolutely be remembered for being one of the strangest and most disappointing in franchise history.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
Gruden feeling the heat?
Silver & Black Illustrated

Gruden feeling the heat?

“I know there is a big bull’s-eye on my chest, certainly. If the people want to use that as an incentive, then so be it. I worked for Al Davis in 1998. That was pressure. I was 34 years old. I’ve dealt with pressure before. I don’t really feel pressure. I love the excitement and thrill of competing, and I can’t worry about things I can’t control in that regard. I know people will want to step on me and beat me, and that is just the way this league is.”

time-read
3 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
From the SILVERANDBLACK.com Message Boards
Silver & Black Illustrated

From the SILVERANDBLACK.com Message Boards

S&BI continually scans the message boards across Raider Nation to see what Raider fans are talking about now that the 2020 season has ended for the Raiders. We chose some of the better posts and present them here.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
Checklist for 2021
Silver & Black Illustrated

Checklist for 2021

Now that the 2020 season has been put to rest for Las Vegas, the Raiders have shifted their focus to what figures to be a busy offseason as they prepare for 2021.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
February - March 2021
AFC WEST ROUNDUP
Silver & Black Illustrated

AFC WEST ROUNDUP

The Chargers fired coach Anthony Lynn after four seasons.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
February - March 2021