Oakland coach Jack Del Rio didn’t entirely cite one of the Raiders’ long-time slogans — “Pride and Poise.” Just part of it.
“They’re prideful,” he said after the Raiders’ costly 24-6 loss to the Broncos Sunday. “I think we’ll find a way to bounce back and be ready to roll next week.”
The problem, though, is that the world Sunday got a glimpse of what the Raiders most likely will be without quarterback . And it was a reminder of drastically fortunes can change for a football team, in this case in only eight days — or after Carr suffered a broken fibula early in the fourth quarter of a rout of Indianapolis on Christmas Eve.
Carr’s backup, Matt McGloin, was ineffective against the Broncos before suffering a left shoulder injury in the second quarter, and that brought on rookie Connor Cook, who hadn’t been active for the Raiders’ previous 15 games.
McGloin was 6-for-11, for only 21 yards, while Cook came on to go 14-of-25 for 150 yards and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to in the third quarter.
The loss, coupled with the Chiefs’ win at San Diego, left the Raiders and Chiefs both at 12-4, but Kansas City swept the two head-to-head games and won the division, leaving the Raiders as the AFC’s No. 5 seed and headed to Houston to face the Texans in the wild-card round next weekend. Of course, even if Carr had remained healthy, it’s entirely possible the Broncos could have won. But the Raiders had a shot at being the No. 2 seed in the AFC, having a bye, and then at least one home game. And then Carr went down.
“That’s not what we were looking for today,” Del Rio said. “I tell the guys all the time, you get what you earn in this league, and we didn’t do enough to earn a win tonight and didn’t do enough to earn the opportunity to clinch the division. What we did earn, we did earn our way into the playoffs, so it’s huge for us to be able to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get prepared for next week.”
Del Rio said he didn’t yet have a feel for whether McGloin would be available against the Texans. “We’ll see how healthy he is and make a decision from there,” Del Rio said. “Obviously, he’s got a little more experience and has been in our system a little longer, but I thought Connor did a nice job with the opportunities he had.”
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McGloin was injured when hit by the Broncos’ Jared Crick, who was called for roughing the passer on the play.
“I wasn’t really paying any attention to it,” McGloin said. “My eyes are downfield. I took a shot and you don’t really think about where you got hit, you just know you got hit and I got hit pretty good at that point. I saw the replay on the screen, so I guess it was helmet to helmet. Hey, that’s what happens. Sometimes you have to stay in there and take those shots as a quarterback.”
McGloin stayed in the game for three more plays, completing passes for 5 and no yards, before the Raiders punted and he left the game for good.
“I felt like what was best for the team at that time was for Connor to get in there,” McGloin said. “My left arm just wasn’t feeling good. I couldn’t throw in a motion. I’m used to my normal motion. I just have to be in there bright and early (Monday) and get treatment and get healthy.”
McGloin said his “mindset” was to be ready for the Houston game. “I want to play,” he said. “If I’m not 100 percent healthy, I’m not what this team needs. But I plan on being 100 percent healthy and I’m going to do everything I can, in the training room, in the weight room, this week to try to get myself to 100 percent.”
Raiders wide receiver had five catches for 47 yards, but what drew the most attention was when Broncos cornerback yanked at and snapped the gold chain around Crabtree’s neck after a play in the first quarter. Talib wasn’t penalized and Crabtree looked more stunned than angry. After the game, Crabtree didn’t hide his disdain, either for the officials who didn’t throw a flag or for Talib.
“The refs were one-sided today,” Crabtree said. “I don’t like how they were talking to me, like I was a criminal or something. . . Disrespectful. I said, ‘You see the dude, what he was doing in front of me.’ What do you want me to do? I can’t react, they’re going to kick me out. Then I’m the bad guy. It was a business decision, whatever helps my team.”
He also denied he had any kind of history of ill will with Talib, even when Talib was with Tampa Bay and New England and Crabtree was with San Francisco.
“Naw, I don’t have no history with nobody,” Crabtree said. “I just feel like they (were) acting, actors. You ain’t tough, you ain’t beating nobody up like that, you’re acting. Snatching chains on the field, what do you accomplish? You hard, you tough, that make you tough? You snatch a chain in front of the police and take off running. . . Childish, man.”
Crabtree repeated that the officials were “acting like I was the problem. That’s what I didn’t like. I ain’t even that type of dude. I play football. I don’t want to be in nobody’s space, throwing that extra cut block. I could have cut him. I could have hurt him. I’m playing football. I don’t like that, man.”
