Photo credit: @Raiders
By Joe Hawkes
SRS Contributor
OAKLAND — After their offense was nonexistent for the first three quarters of the game and trailing 16-6 heading into the final frame, the Jacksonville Jaguars woke up in the fourth quarter, behind two touchdown passes from rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew to wide receiver Chris Conley to slip past the Raiders, 20-16 on Sunday afternoon in the final game at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum for the Silver and Black.
With the win, the Jaguars (5-9) snapped their five-game losing streak and extended the Raiders’ losing streak to four games, dropping the Silver and Black’s record to 6-8. The Raiders entered the game on a three-game losing streak, in which they lost by an average of 21 points.
The Raiders are moving into a brand new home, Allegiant Stadium, in Las Vegas starting in the 2020 season. The Silver and Black’s $2 billion home is located right off the Vegas Strip and is expected to be one of the finest facilities in all of the NFL.
The Raiders weren’t able to give their loyal fans one more victory at their long-time home at 7000 Coliseum Way, a place that has seen some great football from 1966-1981 before moving to Los Angeles in 1982-1994, then returning to Oakland in 1995 until today, Dec. 15, 2019.
Oakland jumped on the Jaguars early, thanks to a 40-yard touchdown throw from Derek Carr to wide receiver Tyrell Williams that capped off a 7-play, 75-yard drive that to gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. On their opening drive to start the game, Carr completed 3-of-3 passes for 59 yards and the touchdown.
The Raiders jumped out to a 16-3 lead and looked comfortable for most of the game, but saw its defense fall completely apart in the fourth quarter allowing Jacksonville to score 14 unanswered points in the final minutes to snatch the game.
Minshew, who completed 17-of-29 passes for 201 yards on the day, drove the Jaguars 79 yards to cut Oakland’s lead, 16-13, behind a 6-yard touchdown throw to Conley with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter.
Oakland tried to run the clock out and got a pair of first-downs on runs by running back Josh Jacobs and quarterback Derek Carr. But Carr was ruled out of bounds with 2:05 left in the fourth quarter as he tried to slide down inbound, sparing Jacksonville from using their final timeout.
Oakland then got a delay of game in the confusion and wide receiver Tyrell Williams dropped a third-down pass. Kicker Daniel Carlson then missed a 50-yard field goal only to get another chance after Parry Nickerson was called for running into the kicker.
Carlson missed again from 45 yards and the Jaguars took over at the 35 with 1:44 to go. Minshew moved them down the field and connected with Conley on the 4-yard score with 31 seconds left giving Jacksonville their first and only lead of the game, 20-16.
The Raiders drove the ball to the Jacksonville 40 yard line, but Carr’s desperation heave to the end zone in the closing seconds fall to the Coliseum turf.
Carr completed 22-of-36 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown, but was sacked three times by the Jaguars. Tight end Darren Waller finished with eight catches for 122 yards, but 109 yards came in the first half.
Oakland was dominant on offense, racking up 364 yards total, 27 first-downs, and controlled the game for 34 minutes. Defensively, Oakland limited Jacksonville to just 262 yards of total offense, 17 first-downs and limited the Jaguars to 26 minutes of ball control.
After the game, several Raiders, including Carr, walked to the Black Hole to thank the fans, many of whom booed Carr and the Raiders as the team exited the field for the final time.
It wasn’t the way that Raider Nation wanted to send out the Coliseum, on a day that was very emotional for many diehard Raiders fans. The sour taste that this loss leaves in the mouths of Raider Nation will take quite a while to wash out.
Up next for the Raiders: a trip to Carson to take on the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday in Week 16.
For the Jaguars: a visit to Atlanta to face the Falcons.
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