Oakland's final home game is one final gut punch as Raiders blow late lead to Jaguars

The Vegas-bound Raiders blew a late 10-point lead.

December 16, 2019 at 4:11AM
An Oakland Raiders fans holds up a towel and cheers during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
An Oakland Raiders fans holds up a towel and cheers during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

OAKLAND, Calif. – Derek Carr's last-second desperation heave fell to the turf in the end zone and the Oakland Coliseum fans went silent.

The final scheduled NFL game in Oakland ended with a fourth-quarter collapse by the Raiders instead of a celebration for one last victory before the franchise heads to Las Vegas.

Carr and some of his teammates then went to the Black Hole as fans pelted the scrum with debris and booed Carr as he ran off the field one last time after Sunday's 20-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"There's nothing I can say right now that will make anyone feel better," Carr said. "It won't make me feel better."

There was no happy spin to put on this day for the Raiders (6-8), who had hoped to give jilted Oakland fans one last positive memory from what has otherwise been a mostly disappointing 25 seasons since the franchise returned from Los Angeles in 1995.

Instead, the team blew a 13-point lead and was eliminated from playoff contention.

"It's not really the result today, it's the results of the Raiders over the years," coach Jon Gruden said. "It's the Oakland Raiders. It's the appreciation, the loyalty these fans have had for the Raiders. We're going to miss them. The relationship hopefully will never end. It was sad walking in here today and it will be sad walking out for the last time."

The Raiders led 16-3 at halftime and 16-6 going into the fourth quarter. But the game quickly turned, with Gardner Minshew throwing two touchdown passes to Chris Conley, the second coming with 31 seconds left.

After Carr's final pass fell incomplete, the fans' postgame frustration included boos, debris thrown on the field and a few getting apprehended after running onto the field.

"Some of these people will never be at a Raiders game again," Carr said. "It's their last time, the last time they'll go. You feel for them. It's weird that you won't call them the Oakland Raiders. That's crazy."

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) is met by Gorilla Nilla in "The Black Hole" at the end of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr met with fans seated in Oakland Coliseum’s famed Black Hole for the final time Sunday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

JOSH DUBOW Associated Press

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
card image
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS/The Minnesota Star Tribune

The "winners" have all been Turkeys, no matter the honor's name.

In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece