Getty Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden
Every once in a while an NFL coach will say something that just makes no sense. Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden has made a habit of this in his first season back on the sidelines. It’s been a whole lot of talk about the good effort from the Raiders and players fighting hard to this point in the 2018 season.
Obviously, fans could care less about solid effort and fight when the Raiders sit with a 1-7 record. For the most part, Gruden’s comments have largely been pushed aside thus far as fans just hold out hopes their plethora of draft picks won’t lead to a long, drawn-out rebuild. But what the man who’s known as ‘Chucky’ had to say ahead of the team’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers may qualify as his worst comments yet.
As SB Nation’s Levi Damien revealed, Gruden spoke about the team’s last game between the two sides prior to their matchup with the Chargers in Week 10.
“We liked what we did the last time,” Gruden said of the Raiders previous performance against the Chargers. Though the only positive he seems to have been able to take from it is “we competed hard.”
That game came in Week 5, a 26-10 loss when the Raiders failed to find the end zone until the fourth quarter. They trailed 20-3 entering the final frame and as a team, had 41 rushing yards on 13 attempts. On the defensive side, Philip Rivers only threw the ball 27 times, yet managed 339 yards and two touchdowns. In short, there was virtually nothing pretty about that game.
Raiders’ Struggles Against Chargers
Prior to this season’s loss, the last time the Raiders faced the Chargers came in Week 17 last season, a game they lost 30-10. It was a spot in which Philip Rivers threw for 387 yards and three touchdowns while Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin and Tyrell Williams combined for 296 receiving yards.
The Raiders’ lack of success against a team who’s defeated them three-straight times, is concerning ahead of this matchup. Unfortunately, none of those past games matter, because this current Oakland team has a whole different world of problems right now.
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