On Sunday, Oakland again showed that they like being the NFL’s rebels, doing things the hard way by swimming up stream versus the Minnesota Vikings. Instead of heeding and adhering to the old maxim, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” the Raiders served up another version of the exact opposite: They scored 24 first-half points but managed only one field goal in the second half. In the process, Oakland has continued an ugly trend of limping to the finish line.
Over the past five games, the Raiders have scored zero fourth-quarter points. None.
Mathematically, that’s an average of nada points. Less scary is their 27 total third-quarter points in that same time frame. For the season—10 games—the Raiders have scored only 87 second-half points, ranked 24th in the league. That, disappointingly, is not a trend that aspiring playoff teams want to carry with them.
An obvious reason for this lack of a finishing touch is the team’s health. Unfortunately, Oakland has had to trudge through the many injuries to key offensive weapons, not the least hurtful of which is the loss of Opening Day starting quarterback Jason Campbell.
Additionally, running backs Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece, wideout and return god Jacoby Ford and tight end Kevin Boss have missed portions of the season with ailments. Not to mention the recent loss of receiver Darius Heyward-Bey due to a neck injury sustained in Sunday’s win over the Vikings.
Needless to say, it’s not surprising that the Raiders’ offense hasn’t been able to click on all cylinders for a full four quarters.
