Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders: 3 things we learned in Week 14

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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 08: Jayon Brown #55 of the Tennessee Titans returns a fumble recovery 46 yards for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders during the second half of an NFL football game at RingCentral Coliseum on December 08, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

When Oakland loses, they lose badly.

The Raiders have won all six of their games by 8 points or less, so we’ve been treated to nail-biting victories. However, when the Raiders lose, they let you know well before the fourth quarter that it is over.

The 27-24 loss to the Houston Texans is the one outlier, but every other loss for the Raiders this season has been by at least 18 points. During this three-game losing streak, in particular, they have been outscored 116 to 33.

Now, most of these games have come against playoff-caliber teams (minus the Jets), so it is no surprising Oakland lost. However, if you can just barely beat mediocre to bad teams and get stomped against almost any quality team you face, not sure what to take from that as a whole.

Jon Gruden has to take a majority of the blame for this as too often his team just doesn’t look ready to play. Teams like the Bengals and Dolphins who are even less talented that the Raiders have found a way to be far more competitive as of last than Oakland. We can make all the excuses we want with injuries or youth, but when you’re getting blown out like this, it is far more than that.

The effort in these past few games can not be accepted, and hopefully, they will find a way to play with far more energy to finish the season.

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