The Raiders lost again yesterday. I think this is probably news to more people than you'd expect, on account of the fact that they're 2-8 and are currently on a six-game losing streak that, reasonably, could get to 10 games before the Jaguars come to Las Vegas and give them a shot at their final win of the year in late December.
It's been a bleak year. Maybe we should have all seen this coming when the team was pretending to be excited about the possibility of both Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell, but there was admittedly a little too much hope after they went into Baltimore and beat the Ravens. Turns out that was the exception to this year, not the rule, and actually a team with no real quarterback options and a star wide receiver who forced his way out of town wasn't ever set up for success. Weird!
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But the good news is that Maxx Crosby agrees with you now. And if Maxx Crosby of all people is waving the white flag, then that's probably curtains on the season. After their latest disappointment – a Week 11 loss to the Dolphins where they gave up 17 4th quarter points – Crosby didn't beat around the bush when asked about what this season has left for the Raiders.
Maxx Crosby says Raiders are just playing for team pride at this point in the season
Maxx Crosby: "We're just playing for pride at this point."
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) November 17, 2024
Our first "Just Playing For Pride" quote of the season! Before Thanksgiving! It'd be way more bleak if it wasn't so predictable. The Raiders have played like one of the worst teams in football since basically Week 2, and now the season is reduced to just watching Shedeur Sanders' Twitter account after every loss. The Raiders are playing for pride at this point; the Raiders' fans are just watching for pride at this point; everything's just for pride at this point. If there's one thing I know can beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, it's definitely playing for pride. (Although to be fair, they did exactly that last season.)
I think everyone kinda new this, like, a month ago – but there's something jarring about hearing it with six games left in the season. But the silver lining is that once everyone's done playing for pride, we can start talking about the Raiders' franchise QB of the future – a pick they definitely, totally won't screw up.