November 27, 2020 - Oakland, CA, USA - Oakland Raiders fans in The Black Hole section of the stadium are ready for the team’s game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. The Raiders defeated the Panthers 35-32 (Photo by Jeff Siner/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire)
Ever since Derek Carr got hurt, many Oakland Raiders fans have been having a very difficult time dealing with facing how this once magical season is coming to an end. I talked about this on the Black Hole Banter Podcast recap from Sunday’s loss to Denver: This just seems unfair.
And I’m not one to use the work “unfair” when talking about sports. Bad call caused you to lose the game? Tough, that’s sports. It’s not unfair, it’s the reality of sports. Every fan base and every team deals with a bad/missed call or an unlucky bounce of the ball. But none of that is unfair, it’s just the way sports work.
But what Raider Nation is dealing with right now is different. How so? Because literally no fan base in NFL history has dealt with the dramatically painful end to the season that Raiders fans are currently trying to wrap their heads around.
#Raiders MVP candidate Derek Carr will become the first QB in history to win 12+ games and not start in the playoffs, per @NFLResearch.
— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) January 4, 2021
Think about that for a second. Never has an NFL team been on such a positive trajectory only to lose their leader before the playoffs. The Raiders had an MVP candidate and were among the favorites for the Super Bowl one day and are underdogs against arguably the worst team to make the playoffs a few days later. Literally no team or fan base has had to deal with that reality before now.
But it only gets worse.
As if that’s not bad enough, it’s not like we’re talking about Tom Brady and the Patriots winning 12 games only to see Brady get hurt before the playoffs. That fan base and those players have been there before and have experienced the joy of a winning team for years. Raider Nation on the other hand is preparing to watch their first playoff game in over a decade. Hell, for some fans it will be their first Raiders playoff game period.
But instead of savoring the playoff game, most Raiders fans are pondering what could have been if Derek Carr didn’t get hurt and dammit, that’s just unfair.
This season was like the fairy-tale Cinderella, only without the happy ending. It was like prince charming was crossing the street with the glass slipper in hand only to get hit by a truck right in front of Cinderella’s house.
Let’s give Connor support. Yes, it sucks losing Carr, but we are a team! Cook had a great college career and he has great weapons to work with. We’re down, but not out. RN4L, win or lose
Don’t give up,it’s not over. A lot of talent there, yes, everyone in shock over what happened, let’s kick some ASS.
Let’s go Connor the raider nation is behind you and lthats that maters
Regardless we played with respect n passion
Regardless we r back n should b proud of our efforts