After the final seconds ticked off, Derek Carr ran straight to the Black Hole with several teammates on Monday before taking a victory lap around the Oakland Coliseum to celebrate with the fans.
If this truly is the final game ever in Oakland, the Oakland Raiders gave their fans plenty to cheer at the end of another disappointing season.
Dwayne Harris returned a punt 99 yards for a touchdown after the Denver Broncos failed to down it and Oakland native Doug Martin ran for 107 yards and a score, as the Raiders beat the Broncos 27-14 in what was possibly the final NFL game ever at the Coliseum.
Photo: AFP
“It was emotional because as I was doing it, I was remembering all the memories from breaking my ankle, to fourth-quarter comeback wins, to throwing three picks in a quarter. Everything,” Carr said. “Just how loyal our fans are. I know it stings. I know it hurts that we might not play here. I don’t know. I was going to make sure that if this was the last time, I wanted to say thank you in whatever way I could.”
The Raiders (4-11) are set to move to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2020 and have no lease for next year. With Oakland officials having sued the team over the move, the Raiders are looking into other options for 2019, including AT&T Park in San Francisco.
A decision is expected before the NFL Super Bowl, but many of the die-hards came out for this game knowing it could be the last NFL game ever in the stadium that opened in 1966.
“I don’t want to get too sentimental tonight,” coach Jon Gruden said. “Hopefully that’s not the case. That’s for other people to decide. You see the love affair these fans have for the Raiders.”
While the Raiders celebrated, the Broncos (6-9) hit a low after being assured of having back-to-back seasons with losing records for the first time since the 1971-1972 season. After going 5-11 in coach Vance Joseph’s first season, Denver have done little better in year two and general manager John Elway could be ready to make a change after the season.
The Broncos opened the month with playoff aspirations, but three straight losses to teams that entered the game with losing records ended those hopes and have the team searching for answers.
“The message is to keep fighting,” Joseph said. “That’s what we do right now. We have one more game left and this team’s fought all year.”
Shortly after Oakland native Marshawn Lynch lit the torch in honor of late owner Al Davis before the game, Harris delivered the biggest highlight with a punt return that was tied for the second-longest ever.
Andre Holmes deflected Colby Wadman’s punt just before it crossed the goal-line and Isaac Yiadom was in position to down it at the one-yard line, but he could not hold onto the ball and Harris picked it up before racing 99 yards down the sideline for the touchdown that stunned the Broncos.
“As soon as he touched it I knew I was going to try to return it if he had tried to throw it back,” Harris said. “I’ve been trying to get that play all season... As soon as he did it, I knew it was an opportunity for me to take advantage of it.”
The Broncos were not much better at the other phases of the game, committing pre-snap penalties, generating almost no consistent offense in the first half and then allowing Martin to scamper 24 yards untouched around the end to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
“It was definitely important to me and to the players to give this win to [the Oakland fans] for Christmas,” Martin said. “Merry Christmas to Oakland. Hope you enjoyed it. We love you.”
In the second half, Case Keenum got the Broncos on the board with a pair of touchdown passes to DaeSean Hamilton and Courtland Sutton, but it was not enough as Jalen Richard scored on a three-yard run for Oakland and the Raiders sealed the win with interceptions by Marcus Gilchrist and Erik Harris.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
RSS