Goodbye Coliseum – Oakland Wins Against The Broncos, 27-14

Oakland Raiders said goodbye to the Coliseum with a win over their big rivals, the Denver Broncos, 27-14

We probably saw the Oakland Raiders for the last time at the Coliseum. There won’t be Oakland in front of the Raiders no more.

The franchise is moving to Las Vegas in 2020, and since the lease for the Coliseum is up, and there is no will for an extension, it is almost sure that the Raiders are not going to spend 2019 in Oakland. The most likely destination is going to be San Francisco, but nothing is official yet.

It is why their players gave everything they had last night, in order to have one final celebration with their true, authentic Raider fans.

And it turned out to be fantastic.

“I know it stings, I know it hurts that we might not play here, because I don’t know, but I was going to make sure that, if this was the last time, I wanted to say thank you in whatever way I could.” said Derek Carr after the game.

He threw for 167 yards, having 19 of his 26 attempts completed, but without a touchdown and an interception.

The emotions overwhelmed all the players and coach Jon Gruden. He ran towards the fans to celebrate the last win here, but was more composed, and didn’t talk about the off-field circumstances. Gruden was more focused on the results his team made and the future.

“We haven’t won many games, but the people that know this football team know what is going on inside here and know that there has been some really cool foundation that has been laid.”

#Raiders HC Jon Gruden runs to the stands to celebrate with #RaiderNation on what may have been their last game at the Oakland Coliseum #MNF @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/9w1jMY5BZq

— MJ Acosta-Ruiz (@MJAcostaTV) December 25, 2018

This memorable night was spiced with one particular play, which might represent the entire franchise and its history here at this monumental stadium. It was, big, beautiful and unstoppable.

Dwayne Harris made a 99-yard punt return to give a 7-0 advantage to his team. Some five minutes after the start of the game, Denver had to punt, and Harris tied the second longest punt return ever recorded.

After this move, everybody could see how fired-up are the Raiders, to make their fans happy once again.

WHAT A PLAY.

Dwayne Harris goes 99 YARDS for a punt return TD! #RaiderNation

📺: #DENvsOAK on ESPN https://t.co/KhzAkZZIf2

— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2018

Dough Martin, Oakland-born, was highly motivated and he ran for 107 yards and one touchdown,

“It was definitely important to me and to the players to give this win to (the Oakland fans) for Christmas,” Martin said.

One more TD for the home team was scored by Jalen Richards, who rushed for three yards, to put an end to all Broncos hopes of making a comeback.

Case Keenum had an intense night. He threw two touchdowns, two interceptions, in total, 202 yards, 23 of 37.

Both of his TD passes were towards rookies, DaeSean Hamilton and Courtland Sutton. Another Broncos’ rookie was in the middle of attention last night.

Phillip Lindsay became only the third freshman who entered the league undrafted, to rush more than 1,000 yards. Previous two were LeGarrette Blount and Dominic Rhodes. He posted 46 yards and has a total of 1.037 this season, 68 short of Rhodes’ record from 2001. He could have broken that limit already if it weren’t for the injury he picked up in the second quarter and left the field.

Broncos' Phillip Lindsay is now just the third undrafted rookie with 1,000+ rushing yards in NFL history.

📺: ESPN #DENvsOAKhttps://t.co/ejxyHfXLVr

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 25, 2018

The Broncos (6-9) got out of the playoff picture, despite having solid chances at the beginning of this month. However, they suffered defeats from teams with a negative record, and that cost them dearly. One more thing. For the first time in the last 46 years, Denver recorded two straight seasons with a negative record.

The Raiders (4-11) are rebuilding their roster from top to bottom. Coach Gruden decided to start from scratch and make the team according to his taste and his philosophy of play. So far, we haven’t seen anything astonishing, but having in mind that they have many draft picks, combined with some good additions from the free agency, we expect from the Raiders to grow very quickly.

They will be playing against the Kansas City Chiefs in the last round, at the Arrowhead Stadium.

The Broncos are hosting the Chargers.