The Las Vegas Raiders are the only team in the National Football League with an 0-3 record, but incredibly, had one play in any of those games gone the other way, the Silver and Black actually could be 3-0.
The Raiders, after a promising 4-0 preseason record under new Coach Josh McDaniels, rallied in the second half only to fall short of the Los Angeles Chargers, 24-19, at Sofi Stadium in the opener in Inglewood Calif., before building a 20-0 lead over the Arizona Cardinals before losing, 29-23, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and last Sunday rallied in the second half only to fall to the Tennessee Titans, 24-22, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
“Like most close games are, there’s a handful of plays that that they made and we didn’t that would sway the outcome, and unfortunately that’s three weeks in a row,” Coach Josh McDaniels of the Raiders said.
“I’m looking for us to try to improve and play a full 60-minute game, where we actually start well, play well in all three phases, let’s see what that looks like. I’m not sure that we’ve done that yet.”
Added defensive Maxx Crosby: “It’s tough. We’re so close. We’re doing a lot of good things, we’re just not finishing and getting the wins. On the outside it’s frustrating and I get it. It’s frustrating in (the locker room). ... Even though it’s hard right now and seems like the world is closing down, we have a lot of positive things to take away.”
In all of their comments about being winless, the Raiders and their coaches have been reluctant to utter the phrase “oh-and-three.”
The Raiders are 0-3 for the first time since 2018, and since 1979, six NFL teams have started 0-3 and made the playoffs, the last one being the Houston Texans, which started 0-3 in 2018 but rebounded to win their next nine games and made the playoffs at 11-5 before losing to the Indianapolis Colts, 21-7, in an AFC Wild Card Game.
This is the 10th time in the 63-year history of the Silver and Black that they have not won in their first three games, and in only one of those seasons did they bounce back and make it to the postseason. And that season, they were winless in the first three games but did not start 0-3.
The 1970 Raiders, led by Hall of Fame Coach John Madden, started the season at 0-2-1, but then went 6-0-1 in the next seven games and wound up winning the AFC West with an 8-4-2 record. Then the Silver and Black beat the Miami Dolphins, 21-14, in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game at the Oakland Coliseum before losing to the Baltimore Colts, 27-17, in the AFC Championship Game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
That was the season kicker-quarterback George Blanda won five straight games for the Raiders with his leg and his arm, but even though he threw two touchdown passes and kicked a 48-yard field goal, Blanda couldn’t get the Silver and Black past great quarterback Johnny Unitas and the Colts.
The best the Raiders did after starting 0-3 came in 1986 when they won eight of their next nine games to make a run for the playoffs led by another Hall of Fame Coach, Tom Flores. However, they lost their last four games to finish 8-8 and missed the playoffs by finishing last in the AFC West.
Of course, Raider Nation doesn’t want to think about 1962, when the Silver and Black started 0-13 before winning their last game; 1964, when they started 0-5 and wound up 5-7-2; 1992, when they were 0-4 before finishing 7-9; 2006, when they were 0-5 before winding up at 2-14, or 2014, when went 0-10 before ending up at 3-13.
The last time the Raiders started 0-3 was 2018, when they lost five more in a row after gaining their first victory and won three of their last six games to finish 4-12 in the first season of Coach Jon Gruden’s second stint with the franchise.
The Silver and Black can halt all this talk, at least for one week, by beating the AFC West rival Denver Broncos on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders return to action next Sunday, as they play host at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to their AFC rivals the Denver Broncos. That game kicks off at 4:25 PM PDT and can be seen on CBS.
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