<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-antonio-pierce-fiery-response-missing-no-1-draft-pick');   ga('set', 'title', 'Antonio Pierce issues fiery response to potentially missing out on No. 1 draft pick');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antonio-Pierce-issues-fiery-tirade-in-response-to-potentially-missing-out-on-No.-1-draft-pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Antonio Pierce issues fiery response to potentially missing out on No. 1 draft pick</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-23T12:20:00-08:00">December 23rd, 12:20pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-23T12:20:00-08:00">December 23rd, 12:20pm</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-antonio-pierce-reacts-to-ending-10-game-losing-streak-amid-job-security-whispers">Las Vegas Raiders ended a 10-game losing streak</a> in Week 16 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, many of their supporters were upset with the result. Despite the positive result, fans expressed frustration with head coach Antonio Pierce for the win, which could have cost the team the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.</p><p>Pierce, however, was blunt with his reaction to the notion, which he quickly shrugged off. In his media presser on Monday, the coach <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMLmihCxamI" rel="noopener">candidly stated</a> that he is not coaching “to lose” and gives no thought to the draft discussion.</p><p>“We don’t do this to lose,” Pierce told reporters. “We don’t do this for anybody’s fantasy football team or draft projections. None of that s*** matters to us. The only thing that matters is winning, that’s all we want to do.”</p><p>The response came seconds after he replied with “no comment” to a direct question about losing the No. 1 overall pick. Pierce gave a similar response immediately after the win when he told reporters to “ask [general manager] Tom Telesco” when he received the same question.</p><p>Entering Week 16, the Raiders closely trailed the New York Giants for the No. 1 overall pick in April 2025. However, with their win and the Giants’ subsequent loss, New York became the sole frontrunner for the top selection. The correlating results give the Giants a <a href="https://x.com/JordanRaanan/status/1871003024975356175" rel="noopener">sizeable 57.5 percent chance</a> to secure the No. 1 pick, per Jordan Raanan.</p><p>With two games left in the season, the Raiders are likely to end the year with the No. 2 overall pick. They now share an identical 3-12 record with the Jaguars, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns.</p><h2><b>Antonio Pierce’s connection to the Giants</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antonio-Pierce-issues-fiery-tirade-in-response-to-potentially-missing-out-on-No.-1-draft-pick-1.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Pierce’s connection to the Giants only heightened criticism from Raiders fans on social media. Fourteen years before he became the head coach of Las Vegas, Pierce ended his nine-year NFL career with the G-Men.</p><p>Pierce spent the final five years of his professional career in East Rutherford after four years with the Washington Commanders, then known as the Redskins. He served as the Giants’ starting middle linebacker in every game he appeared in and was an integral part of the team’s Super Bowl XLII victory in 2008.</p><p>Less than four years after his retirement in 2010, Pierce began his coaching career. He started as the head coach of Long Beach Poly High School, where he would remain for four seasons. He then became the linebackers coach at Arizona State before accepting a position with the Raiders in 2022. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-hiring-antonio-pierce-full-time-head-coach">Pierce would eventually be promoted to head coach</a> in 2024 after spending the previous season as the interim.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Antonio Pierce issues fiery response to potentially missing out on No. 1 draft pick

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-brock-bowers-downplays-stressful-record-chase-winning');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Brock Bowers downplays ‘stressful’ record chase after finally winning');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brock-Bowers-downplays-stressful-record-chase-after-finally-winning.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Brock Bowers downplays ‘stressful’ record chase after finally winning</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-23T09:02:07-08:00">December 23rd, 9:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-23T09:02:07-08:00">December 23rd, 9:02am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After the Las Vegas Raiders secured their third win of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, it sparked an honest reaction from rookie tight end, Brock Bowers. After he spent his time with Georgia football and a two-time National Champion, it’s been anything but.</p><p>However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-brock-bowers-joins-exclusive-club-in-historic-rookie-season">Bowers joined an exclusive club in the Raiders win</a>. He became one of three tight ends to have over 1,000 receiving yards in their rookie season. The Raiders first-year player joined Kyle Pitts and Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka in that list. Regardless, Bowers was simply happy to secure the win.</p><p>He spoke with The Athletic after the game and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6014402/2024/12/22/raiders-win-mark-davis-jaguars/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">explained his immediate reaction</a> to the game, despite reports of chasing the No. 1 pick. “Thinking about records just stresses me out,” Bowers said. “I just want to win. The vibes are way better. It’s awesome to see the owner in here so happy for once.”</p><p>Las Vegas has been through a shaky season so far, and some of it isn’t their fault. Rather, simply bad luck. Starting quarterback Gardner Minshew II suffered a season-ending collarbone injury. As a result, second-year player Aidan O’Connell took the reigns. However, he battled an injury, which forced the Raiders to sign Desmond Ridder.</p><p>They remained competitive through all of it, taking the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs down to the wire. Still, Bowers has shown out and been the promising piece of a Las Vegas rebuild.</p><h2><b>Will Brock Bowers keep playing as the Raiders aim closer to a top pick?</b></h2><p>It’s tough to say. After all, the Jaguars and the Raiders have the same record heading into Week 17. Despite this though, head coach Antonio Pierce is determined to have them be a competitive team. Still, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-best-qbs-raiders-giants-tank-2025-nfl-draft">Raiders need a franchise quarterback</a>. Luckily, the 2025 NFL Draft is loaded with premier quarterback talent. Players like Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel, and Quinn Ewers highlight a talented class.</p><p>Even with the Raiders don’t land the No. 1 or the No. 2 pick, there are plenty of options to go with. Furthermore, Las Vegas could have Bowers be a pivotal part of the process. He’s their best pass-catcher by a mile, even as a rookie. Establishing a quality franchise quarterback could elevate the team to previous success.</p><p>Las Vegas has <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/2024/gamelog/" rel="noopener">two more games</a>, one against the New Orleans Saints and one against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Saints are fighting for pride, after their head coach was fired midway through the season. On the other hand, the Chargers could be fighting for a playoff spot or better positioning. The Raiders could play spoiler in Week 18, even if it means costing them a shot at the No. 2 pick.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Brock Bowers downplays ‘stressful’ record chase after finally winning

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-antonio-pierce-reacts-to-ending-10-game-losing-streak-amid-job-security-whispers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Antonio Pierce reacts to ending 10-game losing streak amid job security whispers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antonio-Pierce-reacts-to-ending-10game-losing-streak-amid-job-security-whispers.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Antonio Pierce reacts to ending 10-game losing streak amid job security whispers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-23T08:42:04-08:00">December 23rd, 8:42am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-23T08:42:04-08:00">December 23rd, 8:42am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-mark-davis-team-dances-off-draft-concerns-over-jaguars">Las Vegas Raiders’ fans look towards the NFL Draft</a> because of their record, they still can celebrate that they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, 19-14. With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-brock-bowers-joins-exclusive-club-in-historic-rookie-season">Raiders win highlighted by Brock Bowers</a>, who continues to have a historic season, it was their first victory after losing the last 10 games as head coach Antonio Pierce gave his reaction.</p><p>With Pierce being surrounded by rumors involving his job security, a win was needed to show he could rally the players and lead the team in a way that can show owner Mark Davis he should be here for the long haul. Pierce called the victory <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6014402/2024/12/22/raiders-win-mark-davis-jaguars/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">“overdue”</a> and that he is “proud” of the group around him according to The Athletic.</p><p>“It’s long overdue,” Pierce said. “It’s good to see all of those smiling faces from our players, our staff, and everybody involved in our organization. Obviously, you don’t want to go what we went over the last 10 weeks, but that’s behind us. … I’m very proud of this group for being resilient, blocking out the outside noise, and playing for one another.”</p><h2><b>Raiders’ Antonio Pierce addresses the “outside noise”</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antonio-Pierce-on-Dec.-22-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-rumors-shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft-preference-raiders-fans-hyped">talk of the Raiders is about their future quarterback plans</a> in terms of the NFL Draft, Pierce would even talk about the <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/antonio-pierce-its-good-just-to-stop-talking-about-losing" rel="noopener">“outside noise”</a> since the team kept losing in that aforementioned 10-game skid according to NBC Sports. The team would start the year 2-2 which is why it was surprising to some to see how much defeat they have suffered this season.</p><p>“Yeah, it was good just to stop talking about losing,” Pierce said. “It’s all about winning. That was the song we were playing when we walked through the locker room. It’s always a good feeling because you put in all this work and to have repeated losses, and then put that to the side and just watch the team’s victory. What these guys are playing for, all this BS noise on the outside — like I told those gentlemen in there, it’s all about us. It doesn’t matter about the outside noise.”</p><h2><b>Raiders owner Mark Davis celebrates with team</b></h2><p>One of the highlights this season has no doubt been on the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-brock-bowers-roy-case-breaking-sam-laportas-record">Raiders rookie in Bowers who once again</a> had a productive game, catching 11 passes on 13 targets for 99 yards. He is only five catches away from breaking the all-time rookie record for receptions as it’s currently held by Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua who had 105.</p><p>“Thinking about records just stresses me out,” Bowers said. “I just want to win. … The vibes are way better. … It’s awesome to see the owner in here so happy for once.”</p><p>The team owner Davis would celebrate the win with his team which garnered the attention of Las Vegas offensive lineman and captain Kolton Miller.</p><p>“It’s great to see,” Miller said via The Athletic. “It speaks to the owner backing us and the belief that we have in the team and coaching staff playing for one another. We’re still fighting no matter the record or losing streak. It was great to see the smile on his face, and it means a lot to the players.”</p><p>The Raiders are now 3-12 as they look to end the season on a positive note when they next face the New Orleans Saints.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Antonio Pierce reacts to ending 10-game losing streak amid job security whispers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-maxx-crosby-unintentionally-sparks-chiefs-trade-buzz');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Maxx Crosby unintentionally sparks Chiefs trade buzz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Raiders-news-Maxx-Crosby-unintentionally-sparks-Chiefs-trade-buzz.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Maxx Crosby unintentionally sparks Chiefs trade buzz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T18:50:19-08:00">December 22nd, 6:50pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T20:19:11-08:00">December 22nd, 8:19pm</time><address><a>Dakota Zientek</a>Dakota Zientek graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 and has been writing about the NFL ever since. As a die-hard NFL fan, Dakota's fandom rides with the Chicago Bears through thick and thin -- regardless of how much pain it has caused his heart throughout the years. One day, he believes he will celebrate the Bears winning a Super Bowl. Maybe even... a few?</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Kansas City Chiefs</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While his 2024 season was cut short due to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-season-likely-over-after-ankle-surgery-update">requiring season-ending ankle surgery</a>, Las Vegas Raiders defensive star Maxx Crosby had social media buzzing after the pass rusher <a href="https://x.com/CrosbyMaxx/status/1870974725486461401" rel="noopener">unintentionally sparked</a> trade rumors with the Kansas City Chiefs during his team’s Week 16 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.</p><p>“KC,” Crosby wrote on X, followed by five flame emojis.</p><p>Now, Crosby’s set to miss the rest of the season due to his ankle surgery, but fans all over social media thought the Raiders’ pass rusher was hinting at being traded to the Chiefs.</p><p>In fact, one user even replied to Crosby with an <a href="https://x.com/RasheeTouchdown/status/1870984550706483404" rel="noopener">AI-generated photo</a> of him in a Chiefs uniform.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Thats where you’re playing next season buddy <a href="https://t.co/TJUVjFMpR1">pic.twitter.com/TJUVjFMpR1</a></p><p>— Julio (@RasheeTouchdown) <a href="https://twitter.com/RasheeTouchdown/status/1870984550706483404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>However, with social media sleuths cracking the case, it appeared that Crosby was just showing love for his teammate on a big play during the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-mark-davis-team-dances-off-draft-concerns-over-jaguars">Raiders’ win on Sunday</a>.</p><h2><b>Maxx Crosby’s social media post was for Raiders’ EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson, not a trade</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KLavon-Chaisson.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While some thought Crosby’s social media post was about a future trade to the Chiefs, he was actually just excited about Raiders’ K’Lavon Chaisson after a crucial third-down sack on Mac Jones.</p><p>It was relatively silly to think Crosby was talking about the Chiefs for multiple reasons.</p><p>The first reason is that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2024-nfl-trade-deadline-buyers-sellers#:~:text=The%202024%20NFL%20trade%20deadline%20is%20on%20Tuesday%2C%20Nov.,trades%20will%20occur%20than%20normal.">NFL trade deadline</a> has already come and gone. If the Chiefs were to trade for him, it’d be weird timing for Crosby to say something in Week 16 of the regular season.</p><p>The earliest the Raiders could ship Crosby off is Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 4 p.m. ET. So, why would Crosby be this excited about a trade that couldn’t be made for another three-ish months?</p><p>On top of that, Crosby’s been very clear that he’d like to spend <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-addresses-trade-buzz">his entire career with the Raiders</a> if he could choose.</p><p>Sure, people can say one thing and do another, but if Crosby really wanted out of Las Vegas, he’d have tried to get traded earlier than Week 16.</p><p>Again, the Chiefs couldn’t even trade for Crosby right now if they wanted to. There’s no doubt they’d want to, as there are probably 31 other teams besides the Raiders who would like <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bears-2-best-trade-targets-round-out-2024-roster">Crosby on their defense</a>.</p><p>But, Raiders fans can all let out a sigh of relief, as their star pass rusher doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. He was just showing love for his guy Chaisson for coming away with the crucial sack in their first win since Week 4 of the regular season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Maxx Crosby unintentionally sparks Chiefs trade buzz

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/giants-news-new-york-2025-nfl-draft-destiny-wild-turn-raiders-win');   ga('set', 'title', 'Giants 2025 NFL Draft destiny takes wild turn after Raiders win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giants-news-New-York-s-2025-NFL-Draft-destiny-takes-wild-turn-after-Raiders-win-1.jpg"></figure><h1>Giants 2025 NFL Draft destiny takes wild turn after Raiders win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T18:03:10-08:00">December 22nd, 6:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T18:58:49-08:00">December 22nd, 6:58pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Giants lost <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/giants-new-new-york-makes-brutal-franchise-history-hapless-loss-falcons">to the Atlanta Falcons 34-7 in Week 16</a>. Later in the day, the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 19-14. Those two results have major implications for April’s NFL Draft. The Giants are now alone with a 2-13 record and hold the first overall pick in the draft while the Raiders are among five teams with three wins.</p><p>“The Raiders win over the Jaguars could have dramatic repercussions: The Giants now control their own destiny for the No. 1 overall pick. Las Vegas has 3 [wins], NYG has 2. Giants lose out and they get the top pick,” NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport <a href="https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1870990915273384127" rel="noopener">posted on social media</a>.</p><p>Giants fans were thrilled by the Raiders’ win on Sunday. With a decade of mediocrity behind them, they have a chance to take a franchise quarterback with the top pick. Big Blue fans took to social media to react to the Raiders win, many noting that Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce was a Super Bowl Champion with the Giants.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="zxx"><a href="https://t.co/fZBg8yjE4v">pic.twitter.com/fZBg8yjE4v</a></p><p>— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) <a href="https://twitter.com/BobbySkinner_/status/1870990012466209003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>@MONTECRI5TO went all-caps<a href="https://x.com/MONTECRI5TO/status/1870989782668722515" rel="noopener"> thanking the former linebacker</a>. “RAIDERS!! AP GIVING THR GIANTS SOME HELP!!”</p><p>@nickfalato <a href="https://x.com/nickfalato/status/1870991376781041994" rel="noopener">poked fun at his favorite team while celebrating</a>. “The #Giants all but locking up that number one pick with this Raiders win. Unless of course the Giants wi…never mind.”</p><h2><b>The top draft pick is the reward for a miserable Giants season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brian-Daboll-with-NY-Giants-1.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The New York Yankees and Mets have won games more recently than the Giants. With ten straight losses, jobs are in jeopardy and eyes are on the draft. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/giants-news-brian-daboll-sounds-like-broken-record-10th-straight-loss">Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen may not keep their jobs</a> despite the reports from earlier in the year that they would. If they do, they would have the opportunity to draft their first quarterback in New York.</p><p>Daboll led the Giants to the playoffs with a 9-7-1 record in his first year with the team. Schoen decided to re-sign Daniel Jones to a monster contract after they beat the Vikings in the playoffs. The former sixth-overall pick never lived up to that deal. With the Jones experiment ending earlier this year, they need a quarterback.</p><p>The Giants could draft Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback from Colorado and the son of Deion Sanders. After a 9-3 regular season with the Buffaloes, many see Sanders as the best quarterback prospect. Daboll and Schoen got these jobs because they scouted and developed Josh Allen in Buffalo. Given the opportunity to pick a quarterback, maybe they can turn the Giants into the Bills.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Giants 2025 NFL Draft destiny takes wild turn after Raiders win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-mark-davis-team-dances-off-draft-concerns-over-jaguars');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mark Davis and Raiders dance off NFL Draft concerns after win over Jaguars');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Las-Vegas-Mark-Davis-dance-off-NFL-Draft-concerns-after-win-over-Jaguars.jpg"></figure><h1>Mark Davis and Raiders dance off NFL Draft concerns after win over Jaguars</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T17:43:19-08:00">December 22nd, 5:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T17:45:59-08:00">December 22nd, 5:45pm</time><address><a>Lorenzo J Reyna</a>Lorenzo J Reyna has joined ClutchPoints as Associate Editor of NFL &amp; NCAA Football. He's equipped with past experience for both realms through his recent stops at Pro Football Network and Heavy while also writing for 247Sports. His Twitter/X handle is @LJ_Reyna and his Instagram is @lj_zo_rey.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders traded their cleats for dancing shoes inside the locker room Sunday. The Silver and Black did more than beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 19-14 to end their 10-game losing streak. The team, including owner Mark Davis, danced their way out of landing the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.</p><p>Vegas players <a href="https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1870998136371794074" rel="noopener">indeed were in a jovial mood</a>, per Raiders insider for The Athletic Tashan Reed. Turns out tanking for the top pick was an afterthought on this Sunday.</p><p>“Raiders owner Mark Davis was in the locker room clapping and talking to Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole when the locker room opened to the media. Some other players were dancing. Davis was in a good mood,” Reed shared on X. “Doesn’t seem to care about the draft order ramifications of the win over JAX.”</p><p>So long Travis Hunter, and any thought Raider fans had for the Heisman Trophy winner landing in Sin City. The Raiders’ win certainly re-arranged the current draft order in a big way.</p><h2><b>What NFL Draft order now looks like after Raiders win</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Aidan-OConnell-of-the-Raiders.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Raiders improved to 3-12 overall in what’s already been a lost season. Aidan O’Connell went 24-of-38 for 257 yards. He even withstood two sacks. Brock Bowers snatched 11 receptions for 99 yards.</p><p>Their win not only dropped them out of the No. 1 overall pick conversation, but Reed points out Vegas <a href="https://x.com/tashanreed/status/1870991743002501267" rel="noopener">is outside the top five now</a>.</p><p>“The Patriots (3-12) just lost, so the Raiders now have the No. 6 pick in the draft behind the Giants (2-13), Titans (3-12), Browns (3-12), Jaguars (3-12) and New England,” Reed shared.</p><p>Hunter isn’t the only afterthought for Vegas. Some Raider fans held up a “Tank for Shedeur” sign — for Hunter’s heralded quarterback teammate at Colorado Shedeur Sanders. Sanders, however, is anticipated to fall no lower than No. 5 in the April draft.</p><p>The Raiders’ long-awaited victory brought out mixed emotions. Bowers, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-brock-bowers-joins-exclusive-club-in-historic-rookie-season">who joined an exclusive club against the Jaguars</a>, told CBS Sports’ AJ Ross how giddy he was about winning again.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I'm just so happy right now. Just being able to finally win one. It feels good."</p><p>A giddy Brock Bowers caught up with <a href="https://twitter.com/AJRoss_TV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJRoss_TV</a> after the <a href="https://twitter.com/Raiders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Raiders</a> W <a href="https://t.co/oS1s8RPuxy">pic.twitter.com/oS1s8RPuxy</a></p><p>— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFLonCBS/status/1870994485410480316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Head coach Antonio Pierce even deflected answering the top pick question. He encouraged reporters to talk to general manager Tom Telesco instead.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Talk to Tom Telesco.”</p><p>Raiders coach Antonio Pierce responds to talk of potentially losing out on the no.1 overall pick after beating the Jaguars.</p><p>🎥: By <a href="https://twitter.com/Sean_Zittel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sean_Zittel</a>, Vegas Sports Today<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RaiderNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RaiderNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/YLCGKZvaG0">pic.twitter.com/YLCGKZvaG0</a></p><p>— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) <a href="https://twitter.com/VegasSportsTD/status/1870995319028359298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>However, multiple Raider fans criticized the team for winning. Those fans have to now accept that Hunter or Sanders aren’t a guaranteed lock to fall to them.</p><p>Still, their team couldn’t help but smile and dance after beating the Jaguars. Even Davis joined in on the jubilation — as the Raiders danced out of the top overall selection.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mark Davis and Raiders dance off NFL Draft concerns after win over Jaguars

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-brock-bowers-joins-exclusive-club-in-historic-rookie-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Brock Bowers joins exclusive club in historic rookie season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brock-Bowers-joins-exclusive-club-in-historic-rookie-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Brock Bowers joins exclusive club in historic rookie season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T14:44:48-08:00">December 22nd, 2:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T15:13:10-08:00">December 22nd, 3:13pm</time><address><a>Lorenzo J Reyna</a>Lorenzo J Reyna has joined ClutchPoints as Associate Editor of NFL &amp; NCAA Football. He's equipped with past experience for both realms through his recent stops at Pro Football Network and Heavy while also writing for 247Sports. His Twitter/X handle is @LJ_Reyna and his Instagram is @lj_zo_rey.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders have endured a rather forgettable 2024 season. Brock Bowers, however, has delivered unforgettable moments for the Silver and Black. The dynamic tight end now has joined an exclusive club.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-rookie-of-the-year-power-rankings-mitchell-makes-mark">Bowers is already the league’s third-best impactful rookie this season</a>. The rookie surpassed the 1,000-yard mark against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Bowers <a href="https://x.com/RAIDERS_PR/status/1870946626510196962" rel="noopener">is now a part of a short list of TEs</a> who’ve accomplished such a feat, per the Raiders’ Public Relations department.</p><p>“Brock Bowers has now eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards. One of only three tight ends in NFL history to reach 1,000 receiving yards in his first NFL season. Joining Kyle Pitts and Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka,” the Raiders’ PR X page posted.</p><p>That means Bowers has set the rookie TE mark for receiving yardage by a Raiders player. He elevated his total yards to 1,004 early against the Jaguars inside Allegiant Stadium. He could be eyeing an NFL record too.</p><h2><b>Raiders’ Brock Bowers nearing longstanding NFL record</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brock-Bowers.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Bowers becomes the first NFL TE to scale the century mark since Pitts in 2021, who tallied 1,026 yards. But at this pace, he could be eyeing a longstanding NFL record.</p><p>Mike Ditka remains the NFL record-holder for most single-season receiving yards by a TE at 1,076. The NFL Hall of Famer hit that mark in 1961.</p><p>The first-rounder out of Georgia is looking more like the biggest threat to shatter that mark. Ditka tallied his yardage during a time the league played 14 regular-season games. Bowers still has three games left including the Sunday Jaguars game.</p><p>The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder needs only 73 more yards to break Ditka’s 63-year-old record. Las Vegas still has the road trip to New Orleans and the season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers to come.</p><p>Bowers has a chance to take down Ditka’s mark either during Sunday’s game or even early against the Saints. The 22-year-old who once grew up in the Raiders’ former training camp city of Napa has now become the newest beloved member of Raiders nation. And a record-breaking threat at that for Vegas.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Brock Bowers joins exclusive club in historic rookie season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-antonio-pierce-says-aidan-oconnell-good-to-go-for-jaguars-contest');   ga('set', 'title', 'Antonio Pierce says Aidan O’Connell ‘good to go’ for Raiders vs. Jaguars');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Raiders-news-Antonio-Pierce-says-Aidan-OConnell-good-to-go-for-Jaguars-contest.jpg"></figure><h1>Antonio Pierce says Aidan O’Connell ‘good to go’ for Raiders vs. Jaguars</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T12:40:09-08:00">December 20th, 12:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T12:40:09-08:00">December 20th, 12:40pm</time><address><a>Ben Strauss</a>Ben Strauss is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a die-hard NFL fan who cheers for the Detroit Lions. He has previously written fantasy football content for IDPGuys and ImportantNonsense.com.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the worst teams in the NFL during the 2024 season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-power-rankings-week-16-bills-win-shootout-seahawks-struggle">Las Vegas is 2-12 heading into Week 16</a> and currently controls <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-way-too-early-targets-raiders-2025-nfl-draft">the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft</a>. One reason for the Raiders’ struggles this season has been their poor talent at the quarterback position. Thankfully, the Raiders just got some good injury news.</p><p>Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce told reporters on Friday that Aidan O’Connell “<a href="https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1870187706388480180" rel="noopener">should be good to go</a>” for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.</p><p>This is huge news for the Raiders, though it will not have much of an impact on their season.</p><p>Backup QB Desmond Ridder played in relief of O’Connell on Monday night and played awfully. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-huge-week-16-injury-update">Pierce maintained his confidence in O’Connell returning</a>, stating on Tuesday that he is “trending upwards to playing this week.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-injury-confirmed-season-ending">O’Connell suffered what look like a season-ending injury</a> when he was carted off the field during Week 14. However, it was later reported that the injury was not as severe as originally reported.</p><p>Even if O’Connell coming back does not help the Raiders in 2024, it is a positive sign that O’Connell can overcome this injury in the long term.</p><p>Of course, he may not be the future quarterback of the Raiders for much longer.</p><h2><b>Shedeur Sanders rumored to prefer Raiders as landing spot in 2025 NFL Draft</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Shedeur-Sanders-1.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Raiders should have their pick of the litter in the 2025 NFL Draft if they officially secure the first overall pick. This year’s class does not feature a ton of quarterback talent, but there are a few players the Raiders may have their eyes on.</p><p>One of those players would be Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders. The quarterback, son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-rumors-shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft-preference-raiders-fans-hyped">rumored to prefer being drafted by Las Vegas in the first place</a>.</p><p>“Multiple sources close to Shedeur Sanders and the Colorado program believe his preference would be to land in Las Vegas,” ESPN’s Jordan Raanan wrote in an article on Friday.</p><p>This is incredible news for the Raiders, if true. Some people in NFL circles <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/colorado-football-news-deion-sanders-fires-back-false-shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft-reports">worry that Deion Sanders would push for certain teams to not draft his son</a> if he does not view them as a good landing spot. Think the Eli Manning situation with the Chargers.</p><p>Therefore, if Shedeur already wants to go to Las Vegas, then there’s nothing to worry about.</p><p>Sanders would be a great fit with the Raiders and become their next franchise quarterback if drafted.</p><p>Raiders fans just have to wait a few weeks to learn if they have the top pick in this year’s draft. Then the rest is up to the front office.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Antonio Pierce says Aidan O’Connell ‘good to go’ for Raiders vs. Jaguars

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl-rumors-shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft-preference-raiders-fans-hyped');   ga('set', 'title', 'NFL rumors: Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Draft ‘preference’ will get Raiders fans hyped');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NFL-rumors-Shedeur-Sanders-NFL-Draft-preference-will-get-Raiders-fans-hyped.jpg"></figure><h1>NFL rumors: Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Draft ‘preference’ will get Raiders fans hyped</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T09:59:10-08:00">December 20th, 9:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T09:59:10-08:00">December 20th, 9:59am</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/bingeable">Sonny Giuliano</a>Sonny Giuliano is an experienced sports writer for ClutchPoints who has been covering the NFL, NCAA Football, NBA, and NCAA Basketball for well over a decade. Originally from the small town of Elba, New York, Sonny received his degree from Florida Gulf Coast University and currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders may still have one game left to play before his collegiate career comes to an end, but even with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/colorado-football-news-travis-hunter-praise-byu-coach-alamo-bowl">BYU Cougars ahead in the Alamo Bowl</a>, it doesn’t mean that the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year isn’t already looking ahead to life in the NFL… and potentially life as the franchise quarterback of the Las Vegas Raiders.</p><p>Come April, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/colorado-football-news-shedeur-sanders-top-qb-mel-kiper-2025-nfl-draft-board">Sanders will likely be the first quarterback off the board</a> and potentially <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/colorado-football-news-deion-sanders-bold-shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft-prediction">the top overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft</a>, and according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, he has a preference of where <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43042507/giants-qb-options-next-season-shedeur-sanders-cam-ward-kirk-cousins" rel="noopener">he’ll end up playing</a>.</p><p>“Multiple sources close to Shedeur Sanders and the Colorado program believe his preference would be to land in Las Vegas,” writes Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com.</p><p>Right now, the Raiders and New York Giants are the NFL’s only two-win teams, but the Giants would have the tie-break over Las Vegas if it came to it. But assuming the Raiders lose out and the Giants pull off an upset win over the course of the next three weeks against the Falcons, Colts or Eagles, it could pave the way for Sanders to get his wish.</p><p>And hey, let’s just be honest for a second — with a cannon of a right arm and a seemingly endless supply swagger, Shedeur Sanders screams <i>Las Vegas Raiders. </i></p><h2><b>Raiders fans fully on-board with Tanking for Shedeur </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Raiders-fans-holding-a-Tank-For-Shedeur-sign.jpg?w=1024"><figcaption>© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Raiders didn’t come into the 2024 season with high hopes, in large part because their quarterback situation was so bleak. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-antonio-pierce-aidan-oconnell-gardner-minshew-preseason-battle">Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell engaged in a quarterback competition</a> in the offseason to earn the job, and both have played sparingly throughout the season with very little success. Desmond Ridder has been thrust into duty late in the season, losing this past Monday night in his first start of the year against his former team, the Atlanta Falcons.</p><p>If Sanders ends up in Vegas — or if it’s Cam Ward, for that matter — he would be the first quarterback that the Raiders have selected in the 1st Round since they made Jamarcus Russell the 1st overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NFL rumors: Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Draft ‘preference’ will get Raiders fans hyped

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-jon-gruden-why-characters-like-antonio-brown');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jon Gruden dishes on why he brought characters like Antonio Brown to Raiders');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Raiders-news-Jon-Gruden-dishes-on-why-he-brought-characters-like-Antonio-Brown-to-Raiders.jpg"></figure><h1>Jon Gruden dishes on why he brought characters like Antonio Brown to Raiders</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T12:31:35-08:00">December 19th, 12:31pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T12:31:35-08:00">December 19th, 12:31pm</time><address><a href="https://matthew516sports.substack.com/">Douglas Fritz</a>Douglas Fritz has been writing about sports for almost four decades and publishes a Christian sports newsletter and podcast on Substack at Matthew516Sports. He started as a reporter for the student newspaper at East Tennessee State University, worked his way up to Editor-In-Chief, and began his sports writing career at the Johnson City Press daily newspaper while still in college. During 30-plus years at the Press, he covered University of Tennessee football, men's and women's basketball, ETSU athletics, and high school athletics. Among the people he has interviewed are Dale Murphy, Bobby Cox, John Smoltz, and Bruce Smith. He is also a Christian-based screenwriter (five feature-length and one short), book writer (three completed manuscripts and one novel), and songwriter.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While the Las Vegas <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-raiders-make-maxx-crosby-sincere-mccormick-injured-reserve-decisions">Raiders make injury decisions</a> on key players, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-huge-week-16-injury-update">Aidan O’Connell could return at quarterback</a> for Week 16. Meanwhile, former coach Jon Gruden dished on why he brought characters like Antonio Brown to the Raiders.</p><p>Gruden said he <a href="https://youtu.be/ZaetgpZ4hyE?t=473" rel="noopener">didn’t interact with</a> Brown much, according to Bussin With The Boys.</p><p>“I never got around Antonio enough,” Gruden said of his Raiders days. “You know Antonio showed up on a hot air balloon. He had his feet fried. He had cryotherapy. I had never even heard of cryotherapy and he had an issue with his helmet. (So) he wasn’t happy the NFL wouldn’t let him wear his helmet. We really never got him around the guys very much. So I never really had very much interaction with him at all. Really one of the most frustrating things of my coaching career was not getting him to play for us.</p><p>“I was trying to bring back the old Raiders, the ‘75 – ‘80 Raiders.”</p><h2><b>Former coach Jon Gruden tried to revive old days</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Former-Las-Vegas-Raiders-coach-Jon-Gruden.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Other notables in the Raiders mix included Vontaze Burfict and Richie Incognito. Gruden said he rememeber one funny story about Incognito.</p><p>“Remember the COVID where you can’t have meetings with the players in person?” Gruden said. “So we would have Zoom meetings. So you would see all the players on their little camera, you’d be having an offensive line meetings, and you’d see the 15 offensive linemen. You’d have a team meeting and you could see a lot of the faces. I remember Incognito one time took all his clothes off and was walking around in his garage, he just did things that were so off the wall hilarious to keep everybody laughing, God bless that guy.”</p><p>Burfict also elicted Gruden memories with the Raiders.</p><p>“Then you’ve got Vontaze Burfict (with Brown),” Gruden said. “But the two of those guys they mixed pretty good. They’d kind of laugh with one another. And Richie was kind of like the third part of the party. Those conversations were great.</p><p>“You talk about Bussin with The Boys. You should see some of the boys I bussed with. I always felt this, if you have football character on your team. We had Derek Carr, we had some really good veteran players. Good football character, lets bring in some characters. So we bring in Burfict, you know Burfict really is a great guy and he’s a smart guy, he just knocks the (expletive) out of you and what’s wrong with that.”</p><p>Gruden resigned as Raiders head coach in Oct. of 2021, following reports that emails he wrote over a 10-year period included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language. He said he resigned for the team, according to espn.com.</p><p>“I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction,” Gruden said in a statement Monday night. “Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jon Gruden dishes on why he brought characters like Antonio Brown to Raiders

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/jaguars-vs-raiders-predictions-pick-odds-spread-for-nfl-week-16-2024');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaguars vs. Raiders predictions, pick, odds, spread for NFL Week 16 2024');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jaguars-vs.-Raiders-predictions-pick-odds-spread-for-NFL-Week-16-2024.jpg"></figure><h1>Jaguars vs. Raiders predictions, pick, odds, spread for NFL Week 16 2024</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T12:15:07-08:00">December 18th, 12:15pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T12:15:07-08:00">December 18th, 12:15pm</time><address><a>Dominik Zawartko</a>Dominik Zawartko is a Michigan State graduate with a degree in Political Science and English. Having previously worked in the nonprofit and legal sectors, he decided to pursue his true love of writing with ClutchPoints. Dominik's hobbies include painting, cooking food, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and always having a laugh. His main focus areas are UFC coverage and all things sneakers.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Betting</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>We’re back again for NFL Week 16 as we’re set to bring you our betting predictions and picks for this upcoming tilt between two teams at the bottom of the AFC. The <b>Jacksonville Jaguars (3-11) </b>will take on the <b>Las Vegas Raiders (2-12) </b>as both teams hope to avoid the worst record in the NFL. It is time to continue our NFL odds <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting" rel="noopener">series</a> with a Jaguars-Raiders prediction and pick.</p><figure><img src="https://a.impactradius-go.com/display-ad/3065-2113640"></figure><figure><img src="https://paramountplus.qflm.net/i/492408/2113640/3065"></figure><h2><b>Jaguars-Raiders Last Game – Matchup History</b></h2><p>The Raiders last faced the Jaguars in Jacksonville during Week 9 2022 in a 27-20 win for the Jaguars. The Raiders led the game at halftime 20-10 after a pair of touchdowns from Derek Carr to Davante Adams, but the Jaguars managed to score 17 unanswered points in the second half to notch the comeback win. Travis Etienne found the end zone twice during that game and totaled 108 yards on the ground. It marked the second-straight win for the Jaguars over the Raiders and we should be in for another exciting and unpredictable meeting during this one.</p><p>Overall Series: Jacksonville Jaguars lead the series 6-4.</p><p><i><b>Here are the Jaguars-Raiders <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nfl" rel="noopener">NFL odds</a>, courtesy of FanDuel. </b></i></p><h2><b>NFL Odds: Jaguars-Raiders Odds</b></h2><p>Jacksonville Jaguars: +1.5 (-115)</p><p>Moneyline: -104</p><p>Las Vegas Raiders: -1.5 (-105)</p><p>Moneyline: -112</p><p>Over: 39.5 (-115)</p><p>Under: 39.5 (-105)</p><h2><b>How to Watch Jaguars vs. Raiders</b></h2><p>Time: 4:25 p.m. ET/ 1:25 p.m. PT</p><p>TV: CBS</p><p><i><b>*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/football/?irad=356362&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(Get Access | Save $30)</a>*</b></i></p><h2><b>Why The Jaguars Could Cover The Spread/Win</b></h2><p>The Jacksonville Jaguars most recently dropped their Week 15 matchup against the New York Jets 32-25. Despite tying the game at 25-25 during the final minutes of the fourth quarter, their defense couldn’t fend off the Jets during their late-game drive to win. The Jags are now just 1-6 over their last seven games and they’re already looking forward towards the offseason. With Las Vegas, Tennessee, and Indianapolis remaining on their schedule, however, they could stand to gain some momentum heading into next season with all three being winnable matchups.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">One drive. Two franchise records 🤷‍♂️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DUUUVAL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DUUUVAL</a> <a href="https://t.co/ndX34rE0cX">pic.twitter.com/ndX34rE0cX</a></p><p>— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jaguars/status/1868358731576033397?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>A big positive for the Jaguars last week was quarterback Mac Jones’ willingness to throw the ball and continue to do so following his two interceptions. While it wasn’t a perfect performance, he totaled 294 yards passing, 105 of which went to rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. His constant involvement in the passing game is what gave the Jaguars a chance against the Jets, so expect both him and Travis Etienne to see an expanded role as they try to take some of the pressure off Mac Jones.</p></figure><h2><b>Why The Raiders Could Cover The Spread/Win</b></h2><p>The Raiders most recently fell to the Atlanta Falcons 15-9 in Week 15, marking their 10th consecutive loss and tying for the second-longest losing streak in franchise history (13, 1962). They’re on their way to earning the first overall pick as they’ll contend with the New York Giants, so it’ll be interesting to see how Coach Antonio Pearce handles these final few games for his team. Quarterback Desmond Ridder is likely to find himself under-center once again, looking to build upon his 208 yards passing with a touchdown. He also threw two interceptions which proved to be costly during the single-score game.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨NEWS: The Las Vegas <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raiders?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Raiders</a> currently hold the first overall pick in the 2025 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFL</a> draft.</p><p>Vegas is currently projected to draft Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.</p><p>SANDERS TO VEGAS.</p><p>👀👀👀</p><p>(📸Draft Network) <a href="https://t.co/5lwX61NF30">pic.twitter.com/5lwX61NF30</a></p><p>— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/_MLFootball/status/1868878742774595895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>At this point, the Raiders don’t have much to look forward to besides the NFL Draft. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the Maxx Crosby injury moving forward and whether we’ll see him in a Raiders uniform sometime in the future. Their last draft pick, Brock Bowers, has been the best player on the team all season and recently broke the rookie receiving record for most receptions by a tight end. He should be in line for another big performance against a Jaguars team that’s been allowing tight ends to feast all season.</p></figure><h2><b>Final Jaguars-Raiders Prediction &amp; Pick</b></h2><p>The last two meetings between these teams have been decided by a touchdown or less and with the betting odds sitting where they are, we should be in for another close game in the AFC. While they’re underdogs on the line, we give the slight edge to the Jaguars due to having more weapons on the offensive side of the ball and an experienced starter in Mac Jones under center.</p><p>While they haven’t put up much of a fight against better teams in the NFL, the Jaguars have managed to score points against bad defenses and we like their chances to get in the end zone more comfortably than the Raiders in this one. Let’s roll with Jacksonville to win this game outright.</p><p><b>Final Jaguars-Raiders Prediction &amp; Pick: Jacksonville Jaguars ML (-104)</b></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaguars vs. Raiders predictions, pick, odds, spread for NFL Week 16 2024

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-raiders-make-maxx-crosby-sincere-mccormick-injured-reserve-decisions');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders make expected Maxx Crosby, Sincere McCormick injured reserve decisions');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/0-Las-Vegas-makes-expected-Maxx-Crosby-Sincere-McCormick-injured-reserve-decisions-0.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders make expected Maxx Crosby, Sincere McCormick injured reserve decisions</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T11:50:34-08:00">December 18th, 11:50am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T20:00:10-08:00">December 18th, 8:00pm</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. A die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic, Brayden further channels his baseball enthusiasm through his podcast, where he delves into the latest in sports with engaging commentary. He also serves as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School. His commitment to sports journalism is evident in his diverse experiences with ContraCosta.news and his dedication to delivering compelling and insightful content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-breaks-silence-season-ending-surgery">Las Vegas Raiders’ tumultuous 2024 season took another hit</a> as star defensive end Maxx Crosby and running back Sincere McCormick were officially placed on injured reserve, effectively ending their seasons. The announcement <a href="https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1869451431335624742" rel="noopener">comes as no surprise,</a> given the team’s struggles and the injuries sustained by both players.</p><p>Maxx Crosby, the heart of the Raiders’ defense, suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 that he managed to play through for much of the season. However, an aggravation of the injury in Week 14 forced the team to shut him down. Crosby <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DDk_gkTyn3H/?hl=en" rel="noopener">shared his disappointment</a> on Instagram, writing, “As much as it pains me to not go to war with my brothers and for the fans, I truly believe everything happens for a reason. This bounce back will be iconic.”</p><p>Crosby’s production, while still impactful, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-heartfelt-message-amid-season-ending-injury">reflected the challenges he faced playing through the injury.</a> He tallied 7.5 sacks, 45 tackles, and 17 tackles for loss in 12 games, a notable drop from his stellar 2023 campaign, where he posted 14.5 sacks. His absence leaves a significant void in the Raiders’ defense, which has struggled throughout the year.</p><h2><b>The Raiders are looking for depth as their star DE will be out the rest of the season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Maxx-Crosby.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Sincere McCormick, the team’s promising running back, also landed on injured reserve with an ankle injury. Despite limited opportunities, McCormick showed flashes of potential, averaging 4.7 yards per carry over five games and recording a season-high 78 rushing yards in Week 14. With his season now over, McCormick will focus on recovery and preparing for 2025.</p><p>The Raiders’ roster has been plagued by setbacks all season, with injuries and coaching changes contributing to their dismal 2-12 record. Head coach Antonio Pierce, who was retained despite early-season turmoil, is likely on the hot seat as the team considers securing the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.</p><p>To address the vacancies left by Crosby and McCormick, the Raiders <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/raiders-place-maxx-crosby-sincere-mccormick-on-ir" rel="noopener">made several roster moves</a>. Defensive end Andre Carter was signed from the Vikings’ practice squad, and running back Chris Collier was promoted to the active roster. Additionally, Ovie Oghoufo and Isaiah Spiller were added to the practice squad to bolster depth.</p><p>While the Raiders’ hopes for this season are all but extinguished, the organization is looking ahead. With Crosby vowing to return stronger and McCormick showing growth potential, the focus now shifts to rebuilding for the future.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders make expected Maxx Crosby, Sincere McCormick injured reserve decisions

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-breaks-silence-season-ending-surgery');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Maxx Crosby breaks silence after undergoing season-ending surgery');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/0-Maxx-Crosby-breaks-silence-on-season-ending-surgery-0.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Maxx Crosby breaks silence after undergoing season-ending surgery</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T05:59:30-08:00">December 18th, 5:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T05:59:30-08:00">December 18th, 5:59am</time><address><a>Dan Fappiano</a>Dan Fappiano is a Connecticut based sports journalist and a graduate of both Tunxis Community College and Central Connecticut State University. Dan has spent time covering high school and professional sports in both the print and online medium. He hopes to see his beloved Chicago Bears win a Super Bowl someday.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Nothing has seemed to go right for the Las Vegas Raiders during their disastrous 2-12 campaign. And now, star defensive lineman <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-heartfelt-message-amid-season-ending-injury">Maxx Crosby will be out for the remainder of it</a> after undergoing ankle surgery.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-season-likely-over-after-ankle-surgery-update">Crosby picked up his season-ending injury</a> in Week 15 against the Denver Broncos. While he will be unable to compete with his teammates to round out the year, Crosby is <a href="https://x.com/CrosbyMaxx/status/1869207619250139154" rel="noopener">trying to remain in high spirits</a>.</p><p>“Everything Happens For A Reason,” Crosby wrote on his X, formerly Twitter account. “The Bounce Back Will Be Iconic.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Everything Happens For A Reason… This Bounce Back Will Be Iconic. 🦅💎 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Limitless?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Limitless</a> <a href="https://t.co/9PT23gOOKd">pic.twitter.com/9PT23gOOKd</a></p><p>— Maxx Crosby (@CrosbyMaxx) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrosbyMaxx/status/1869207619250139154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Both the Raiders and Crosby are entering a precarious offseason. The defensive end has no guaranteed money remaining on his contract beyond 2024. While he’s under contract through 2026, he is undoubtedly looking for a long-term deal and more stability.</p><p>Crosby has spent his entire NFL career with the Raiders, and they would undoubtedly like the keep him on their defensive line. However, Las Vegas hasn’t made the playoffs since their relocation. In fact, they haven’t advanced past the Wild Card Round of the playoffs since 2022, when they lost in the Super Bowl.</p><p>The Raiders are in desperate need of a franchise quarterback. For any flashes Gardner Minshew or Aidan O’Connell have shown, neither have proven to be the long-term answer under center. With a high draft pick in 2025 – barring a late season run – Las Vegas will have the opportunity to select one of the top prospects.</p><p>However, trading Maxx Crosby away would only give the Raiders more valuable draft assets. As big of a need quarterback is, there are holes across the roster. Pairing their QB of the future with fellow top offensive line and receiving options would maximize potential success.</p><p>Still, losing Crosby would be a massive blow. Since joining the team in 2019, he has racked up 366 tackles, 144 quarterback hits and 59.5 sacks. Crosby was named to three straight Pro Bowls, and with 7.5 sacks already in 2024 seemed to be well on his way. Furthermore, Crosby hadn’t missed a game until this 2024 season, proving his durability.</p><p>For now, the Raiders will focus on closing out their season strong on evaluating their organization for next year. Whether or not Crosby is still on the roster come 2025 is still up in the air.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Maxx Crosby breaks silence after undergoing season-ending surgery

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-brock-bowers-vip-access-pga-tour-liv-golf-showdown');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Brock Bowers gets VIP access at PGA Tour-LIV Golf Showdown');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Raiders-news-Brock-Bowers-gets-VIP-access-at-PGA-Tour-LIV-Golf-Showdown.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Brock Bowers gets VIP access at PGA Tour-LIV Golf Showdown</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T17:51:26-08:00">December 17th, 5:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T17:51:26-08:00">December 17th, 5:51pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Golf</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-antonio-pierce-desmond-ridder-stay-defiant-after-ugly-loss-to-falcons">lost to the Atlanta Falcons 15-6 on Monday night</a>. While it was a disappointing loss, it was another solid game for Brock Bowers. The rookie tight end is close to breaking the all-time receiving yards record for a rookie at his position. Bowers spent his off day watching the PGA Tour-LIV Golf showdown, which featured Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.</p><p>Bowers was a guest on the TNT broadcast <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1869186171877925252" rel="noopener">during the round</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Brock Bowers, a man of many words. <a href="https://t.co/2f33qXKX2D">pic.twitter.com/2f33qXKX2D</a></p><p>— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1869186171877925252?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>So not only is Bowers there, but his quarterback Aidan O’Connell is at the course. Christopher Powers of Golf Digest is at The Showdown and noticed a key difference between Bowers’ spot and O’Connell’s.</p><p>“Probably the funniest thing I’ve seen so far at the Showdown is Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers getting the inside the ropes VIP treatment while Raiders’ injured quarterback Aidan O’Connell is standing firmly outside of the ropes,” Powers posted on social media.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Peaky blinders hat goes crazy at least <a href="https://t.co/COZWWxPTwj">https://t.co/COZWWxPTwj</a> <a href="https://t.co/OH2ad17msD">pic.twitter.com/OH2ad17msD</a></p><p>— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) <a href="https://twitter.com/CPowers14/status/1869192080398201280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>The Showdown shows the Raiders have a star in Brock Bowers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brock-Bowers-with-LV-Raiders-2-1.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There is not much to be positive about around the Raiders this year. They have two wins and will likely have a top-two pick in the NFL Draft in April. With that pick, they are likely to replace O’Connell at quarterback. But last April, they hit a home run with their selection of Brock Bowers. The Georgia product may not have been talkative on the broadcast, but he is a star on the field.</p><p>The Raiders are still settling into their home in Las Vegas and have not played a playoff game there yet. They have a star on defense in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-heartfelt-message-amid-season-ending-injury">Maxx Crosby, who is out for the rest of this season</a>. And now they have a star on offense in Bowers. With a rookie quarterback, they can become the talk of Sin City.</p><p>The immediate success of the Vegas Golden Knights shows that the city will rally around a pro sports team. The Raiders can ensure it is them by getting a great quarterback to pair with Bowers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Brock Bowers gets VIP access at PGA Tour-LIV Golf Showdown

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-huge-week-16-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell gets huge Week 16 injury update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Aidan-OConnell-gets-huge-Week-16-injury-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell gets huge Week 16 injury update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T14:09:49-08:00">December 17th, 2:09pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T14:09:49-08:00">December 17th, 2:09pm</time><address><a>Mike Gianakos</a>Mike Gianakos is the former editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, where he also spearheaded the video department and event production. He is a longtime podcaster and even longer suffering NY Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Jacksonville Jaguars</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders extended their losing streak to 10 straight games, falling to the Atlanta Falcons 15-9 on Monday Night Football in Week 15. Despite the loss, which dropped the team to 2-12 on the year, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-antonio-pierce-desmond-ridder-stay-defiant-after-ugly-loss-to-falcons">Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce remained defiant</a>, insisting the team is still fighting despite playing out a lost season. The biggest question Pierce faces is which quarterback will be leading Las Vegas to that elusive third win</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-desmond-ridder-start-vs-falcons-aidan-oconnell-injury">Desmond Ridder started for the Raiders</a> on Monday and played poorly. But Pierce <a href="https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1869099012244361576" rel="noopener">showed confidence</a> in the return of Aidan O’Connell when speaking to reporters on Tuesday. “[O’Connell is] trending upwards to playing this week,” Pierce said per NFL insider Ian Rapoport on X.</p><p>Just a week ago O’Connell suffered <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-injury-confirmed-season-ending">what appeared to be a season-ending injury</a> when he was carted off the field during the Raiders’ Week 14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But just three days later, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-returns-practice-avoiding-season-ending-injury">second-year passer returned to practice</a>, shrugging off the season-ending ailment.</p><p>While it was initially feared that O’Connell sustained structural damage to his knee, it turns out he escaped with a bone bruise. He even <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-aidan-oconnell-tough-update-falcons-game-amid-knee-injury">had a chance to play against the Falcons</a> on Monday but the injury kept him sidelined for the contest.</p><h2><b>Raiders’ QB Aidan O’Connell got knocked down, but he got up again…</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Aidan-OConnell-2.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Now, O’Connell has a legitimate shot at reclaiming the starting quarterback job from Ridder for Week 16’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. At 3-10 the Jaguars likely represent the Raiders’ best chance of getting to three wins this season. Of course, looking at the bigger picture, that might not be the best outcome for the organization.</p><p>Las Vegas is currently tied with the New York Giants for the NFL’s worst record. And while players and coaches always want to win regardless of the circumstances, some fans might prefer the Raiders run Ridder back out there against Jacksonville. The Jaguars are starting Mac Jones in place of Trevor Lawrence who <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/jaguars-news-doug-pederson-trevor-lawrence-practice-injury">suffered a season-ending injury</a> on a kill shot delivered by Houston Texans’ linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair in Week 13.</p><p>Regardless of what fans would like to see happen, Pierce and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-maxx-crosby-gets-real-on-player-vs-coach-accountability">Raiders’ coaches have a responsibility to the players</a> to give the team the best chance to win. With that in mind, Las Vegas will almost certainly start O’Connell on Sunday, assuming he’s even remotely capable of playing.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell gets huge Week 16 injury update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-antonio-pierce-100-real-future');   ga('set', 'title', 'Antonio Pierce gets 100% real on Raiders future');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antonio-Pierce-gets-100-real-on-Las-Vegas-future.jpg"></figure><h1>Antonio Pierce gets 100% real on Raiders future</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T13:06:24-08:00">December 17th, 1:06pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T15:27:14-08:00">December 18th, 3:27pm</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce hasn’t had a successful season. The first-year head coach has led Las Vegas to a frustrating 2-12 record, including several close losses. The embattled head coach isn’t giving up on his future, though.</p><p>When asked about whether he will remain Raiders head coach next season, Pierce <a href="https://x.com/tashanreed/status/1869096556907114948" rel="noopener">gave a clear reply</a>.</p><p>“I’m under contract,” Pierce said, per The Athletic.</p><p>Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean the coach will stay. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-mark-davis-reveals-culprit-behind-brutal-2024-nfl-season">Raiders have had a really bad year</a>, and the offense has looked inept too regularly. The team managed just nine points in their last game, a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. It was the squad’s 10th loss in a row.</p><p>Las Vegas fans are looking forward to the end of the season and the chance for the team to draft some new talent. The Raiders have games remaining with Jacksonville, New Orleans, and the L.A. Chargers.</p><h2>Raiders have been woeful in 2024</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Aidan-OConnell-carted-off-the-field.jpg"><figcaption>© Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-antonio-pierce-desmond-ridder-stay-defiant-after-ugly-loss-to-falcons">Raiders can point fingers at a lot of things</a> this year as to why it all went wrong. It starts with the offense, which rarely managed to score more than 20 points in a game this year.</p><p>Las Vegas could never get consistent play from the quarterback position. The team’s now putting Desmond Ritter out there, but he wasn’t the Week 1 starter. The Raiders have used four quarterbacks this year, with Gardner Minshew having the most success. Minshew threw for more than 2,000 yards this season before getting hurt.</p><p>The running game hasn’t fared much better. The Raiders’ leading rusher is Alexander Mattison, who has just 341 yards this season. The offensive line has been an area of concern, as the Raiders have allowed 47 sacks this season in their 14 games. It’s just been a nightmare for Raiders fans, and one they want to soon forget.</p><p>One of those people <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5987734/2024/12/11/raiders-mark-davis-antonio-pierce/" rel="noopener">suffering from the nightmare</a> is Raiders owner Mark Davis.</p><p>“I’m very disappointed, obviously,” Davis said last week, per the Athletic. “I want to see progress. There are no excuses. We have injuries and all of those things, but your team has to figure out how to get around those issues. … [If] there’s going to be a finger pointed, it should be at me because, again, I’m the one who’s hiring the people who make the decisions on the field. … At this point, obviously, we’re not happy, but you have to go through the season, and then we’ll re-evaluate.”</p><p>Las Vegas next plays the Jaguars on Sunday, with a chance to snap this 10-game losing streak.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Antonio Pierce gets 100% real on Raiders future

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-maxx-crosby-gets-real-on-player-vs-coach-accountability');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Maxx Crosby gets real on player vs. coach accountability');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Maxx-Crosby-gets-real-on-player-vs.-coach-accountability.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Maxx Crosby gets real on player vs. coach accountability</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T09:18:11-08:00">December 17th, 9:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T09:18:11-08:00">December 17th, 9:18am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is one of the most authentic people within the NFL. He’s not afraid to take responsibility or accountability for any shortcomings on the gridiron. However, he hasn’t felt that being reciprocated from some coaches he’s played for in the past. On the Let’s Go Podcast, Crosby elaborated the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/week-16-new-unc-head-coach-bill-belichick-and-david/id1584409759?i=1000680633972" rel="noopener">player versus coach accountability</a> within the league.<br><br>“Every coach is different,” Crosby said. “I’ve been around coaches who make a bad decision, and they walk up in front of the guys and say I messed up, that’s on me I’ll take it on the chin. If anybody asks, put that on me. I’ve also been around the opposite, a bad decision the guys are talking about it in the locker room like what the f**k are we doing? What are we possibly doing? Then, the coach doesn’t say anything about it and we’re like that motherf****r. I’ve definitely seen that before too.”</p><p>Crosby has played for his fair share of NFL head coaches. Jon Gruden, Rich Bisaccia, Josh McDaniels, and now with Antonio Pierce. Although the Pro Bowl defensive end didn’t mention names, his point remains the same. For example, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-love-jon-gruden-chiefs-loss">Crosby showed love to Gruden, his first Raiders head coach</a>.</p><h2><b>Maxx Crosby understands the Raiders’ players vs coaching accountability</b></h2><p>However, there have been some ugly turnouts in Sin City. When McDaniels took the job, there were questions of his leadership. Numerous reports indicated that he <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/josh-mcdaniels-was-shell-of-himself-after-brutal-team-meeting-before-firing-that-reportedly-included-patriots-jab-201920988.html#:~:text=McDaniels%20reportedly%20didn't%20say,long%20meetings%2C%20among%20other%20problems." rel="noopener">didn’t like receiving criticism from players</a>. Despite that, McDaniels wasn’t afraid to dish it out. Although he was fired and replaced by Pierce, the Las Vegas star has seen both sides of the coin.</p><p>“As a leader of men, I feel that way as a player,” Crosby said. “If I mess up, there’s some plays that I miss a sack, I jump off sides or something like that. In my heart I won’t feel right unless I say something as much as it bothers me. I’ll always go to my teammates and say that’s 100% on me. I got you, I’ll get you back. <br><br>“As a coach that’s super important to be a leader of the guys. To be able to take accountability because if you’re always just the one dishing it out and telling people you got to do this but not being able to take accountability yourself, I feel like that’s a bad leader.”</p><p>Pierce is currently through a 2-12 season with the Raiders. While players have appreciated his approach, there might be more to the story. He would know that about as well as anybody, and isn’t afraid to express it. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-downplays-coach-shove-love-push">Crosby gave one of his coaches a ‘love push’</a> during their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. For the Raiders, they’re hoping that the player and coaching accountability remains the same on both sides.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Maxx Crosby gets real on player vs. coach accountability

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-antonio-pierce-desmond-ridder-stay-defiant-after-ugly-loss-to-falcons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders’ Antonio Pierce, Desmond Ridder stay defiant after ugly loss to Falcons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antonio-Pierce-Desmond-Ridder-stay-defiant-after-ugly-loss-to-Falcons.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders’ Antonio Pierce, Desmond Ridder stay defiant after ugly loss to Falcons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T07:29:30-08:00">December 17th, 7:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T07:29:30-08:00">December 17th, 7:29am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders dropped to 2-12 on the season with a 15-9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, and despite the losses piling up, head coach Antonio Pierce and quarterback Desmond Ridder said the team is <a href="https://x.com/VicTafur/status/1868892966989053996" rel="noopener">still working hard</a> to get that third win on the season.</p><p>“These guys are not budging. I am not budging,” Pierce said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “We’ll keep chopping wood and at some point the damn thing will break and go our way.”</p><p>Pierce is possibly coaching to keep his job in 2025, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-mark-davis-reveals-tom-brady-have-huge-voice-las-vegas-qb-search">as the Raiders could decide</a> to clean house if this season keeps going this way in the final three games. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-desmond-ridder-start-vs-falcons-aidan-oconnell-injury">The Raiders are in play</a> for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and it could be argued that they should reset in the front office and at head coach. Ridder, who took over the starting role this week due to Aidan O’Connell’s injury, <a href="https://x.com/VicTafur/status/1868890034000236744" rel="noopener">echoed the sentiment</a> of Pierce.</p><p>“It’s tough being in the position we are in,” Ridder said, via Tafur. “We’re just searching… searching for a win, searching for positive energy. We fight every single week. But we just keep saying that we fight and nothing is happening where we can go push over the edge and get a win.”</p><p>Ridder was looking for a win against his former team, but was unable to do so after a final drive came up short. It is unknown whether or not he will play this coming week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, depending on O’Connell’s status.</p><h2><b>How will Raiders finish 2024 season?</b></h2><p>As mentioned before, the Raiders will play the Jaguars this upcoming week. That is likely their best chance for a win before the end of the season. It will be interesting to see the type of effort they come out with. Both teams are banged up in multiple areas.</p><p>Following the game against the Jaguars, the Raiders have games against the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers to close the season. The Saints game could be winnable for Los Angeles, given that Derek Carr is likely to miss that game due to injury. The Chargers game on paper is the toughest, but they could be resting starters at that point, depending on what the playoff scenarios are.</p><p>It will be interesting to see how the Raiders close the season, if there are any changes made to the front office and coaching staff, and where they end up picking in the 2025 NFL Draft.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raiders’ Antonio Pierce, Desmond Ridder stay defiant after ugly loss to Falcons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/las-vegas-raiders-bold-predictions-for-week-15-monday-night-football-vs-falcons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Las Vegas Raiders bold predictions for Week 15 Monday Night Football vs. Falcons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Las-Vegas-Raiders-bold-predictions-for-Week-15-Monday-Night-Football-vs.-Falcons.jpg"></figure><h1>Las Vegas Raiders bold predictions for Week 15 Monday Night Football vs. Falcons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-16T13:33:53-08:00">December 16th, 1:33pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-16T13:48:00-08:00">December 16th, 1:48pm</time><address><a>Ben Strauss</a>Ben Strauss is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a die-hard NFL fan who cheers for the Detroit Lions. He has previously written fantasy football content for IDPGuys and ImportantNonsense.com.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL this season. Las Vegas is 2-11 heading into Week 15 and is riding a nine-game losing streak. The Raiders have been plagued by plenty of problems this season, and their record reflects it perfectly.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-hiring-antonio-pierce-full-time-head-coach">Las Vegas has a first-year head coach</a> who appears to be in over his head. They have also dealt with multiple <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-gardner-minshew-suffers-season-ending-injury-broncos">injuries at the quarterback position, including Gardner Minshew</a> and Aidan O’Connell. With their top two options unavailable, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-desmond-ridder-start-vs-falcons-aidan-oconnell-injury">Desmond Ridder is their best option at QB</a>.</p><p>The Raiders have already been eliminated from the playoffs, but they still have pride to play for. They also need to establish a new identity that can carry over into the 2025 season. That is unless the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-rumors-antonio-pierces-raiders-job-status-has-insiders-torn">current regime is swept out and replaced with something new</a>. Either way, there’s plenty of reason for the players and coaches in Las Vegas to continue playing hard until the end of the regular season.</p><p>Next up for Las Vegas is a primetime matchup against Atlanta. The Raiders may have had a chance in this game at full strength. At this point in the season, they simply seem outmatched.</p><p>Do the Raiders have what it takes to pull off a huge upset win against the Falcons? Or will they lose yet another game and extend their streak to 10 in a row?</p><p>Below, we will discuss three Raiders’ bold predictions ahead of this big <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/falcons-vs-raiders-predictions-pick-odds-spread-for-nfl-week-15-2024">Week 15 game against the Falcons on Monday Night Football</a>.</p><p><i><b>*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/football/?irad=356362&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(Get Access | Save $30)</a>*</b></i></p><h2><b>Brock Bowers will lead the Raiders in scrimmage yards</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brock-Bowers-with-LV-Raiders-1.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Brock Bowers is having an incredible rookie season.</p><p>Bowers has hauled in 87 receptions for 933 yards and four touchdowns so far this season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-brock-bowers-roy-case-breaking-sam-laportas-record">Bowers is already setting rookie tight-end records.</a> With four games left to play, he has a chance to shatter multiple Raiders franchise records as well.</p><p>The Falcons have a solid defense that is designed to stop the pass. That said, their talented safeties and cornerback A.J. Terrell are not often matched up on tight ends. Las Vegas would be wise to force Bowers into a situation where he is covered by a linebacker or slot cornerback, creating a huge mismatch that the Raiders can exploit.</p><p>The Raiders don’t have much choice to do anything other than feed Bowers all night long. There is no chance that Las Vegas can win this game without a heroic effort from their young superstar tight end.</p><p>My prediction: rookie tight end Brock Bowers will lead the Raiders in scrimmage yards on Monday Night Football. He has done it before, and I believe he is capable of doing it again in front of a national audience.</p><h2><b>Falcons RB Bijan Robinson, WR Ray-Ray McCloud combine for more yards than the Raiders’ offense</b></h2><p>I led with a Brock Bowers prediction for a reason. He’s the only player on offense for the Raiders that strikes fear into the hearts of their opponents.</p><p>Las Vegas has almost no running game, relying on Sincere McCormick to carry the load for the rest of the season. The Raiders have almost no weapons in the passing game aside from Bowers. Jakobi Meyers is an okay WR2, and Tre Tucker and Terrace Marshall Jr. are depth pieces at best.</p><p>The Falcons are far from a dominant offense, but they definitely have weapons. I believe it will only take a couple of Falcons players to outgain the entire Raiders offense.</p><p>My prediction: Bijan Robinson and Ray-Ray McCloud will combine for more total yardage than the entire Raiders offense. I could include another player or two, but that feels too similar to saying the Falcons will outgain the Raiders. Even if this prediction does not hit, I am willing to wager that it will be close to happening.</p><h2><b>Raiders do not manage a sack without Maxx Crosby in the lineup</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Maxx-Crosby.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Maxx Crosby may be the most important player on the entire roster. That’s what makes it such a huge problem that he is done for the season.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-maxx-crosby-season-likely-over-after-ankle-surgery-update">Crosby suffered a season-ending ankle injury</a> that is just one more blow in an already doomed Raiders season.</p><p>The Raiders have to turn to Tyree Wilson and K’Lavon Chaisson as their top edge rushers with Crosby injured. That, paired with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raiders-news-las-vegas-christian-wilkins-ir-latest-injury-blow">Christian Wilkins already being on injured reserve</a>, spells problems for the Raiders on defense.</p><p>I believe the Raiders will hit a new low on Monday night.</p><p>My prediction: the Raiders will not log a single sack against the Falcons on Monday Night Football. This is a huge indictment of their defense, as Kirk Cousins is not particularly good at avoiding sacks at his advanced age.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Las Vegas Raiders bold predictions for Week 15 Monday Night Football vs. Falcons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/raiders-news-desmond-ridder-start-vs-falcons-aidan-oconnell-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raiders ‘expected’ to start Desmond Ridder vs Falcons amid Aidan O’Connell injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Raiders-news-Desmond-Ridder-expected-to-start-vs-Falcons-amid-Aidan-OConnell-injury.jpg"></figure><h1>Raiders ‘expected’ to start Desmond Ridder vs Falcons amid Aidan O’Connell injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-16T09:36:47-08:00">December 16th, 9:36am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-16T09:59:51-08:00">December 16th, 9:59am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Las Vegas Raiders</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Las Vegas Raiders are <a href="https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1868707118377058595" rel="noopener">making a change at quarterback</a>, as they’re expecting to start Desmond Ridder against the Atlanta Falcons as the No. 1 quarterback after Aidan O’Connell’s injury, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The news comes after <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-rumors-aidan-oconnell-a-long-shot-to-play-for-raiders-in-week-15">O’Connell was deemed a longshot to play for the Raiders</a> in Week 15. Now, the news is official, and it will give Ridder his first start since the 2023 season.</p><p>In that season, Ridder threw for 2,836 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He was benched midway through the year and replaced by Taylor Heinecke. Since then, he’s bounced around from practice squad to practice squad. However, Monday’s game against the Falcons marks his first start, and it comes against his former team.</p><p>Las Vegas is on its third quarterback after injuries limited Gardner Minshew II and O’Connell. Luckily, the Raiders are gearing up for a quarterback in the NFL Draft. Two of the top names, Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, highlight an exceptional class. Regardless, Ridder has proven he can win games. For instance, he had four game-winning drives in the 2023 season.</p><h2><b>Desmond Ridder has a bright opportunity for the Raiders</b></h2><p>After a sour ending to his time in Atlanta, the former Cincinnati football quarterback has bounced everywhere. For instance, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-desmond-ridder-returns-arizona-practice-squad-shocking-release">Ridder was suddenly released by the Arizona Cardinals</a>, after being on the main roster. He has the talent and composure to win big games. Even if he’s a bit mistake-prone, Ridder is more than capable of putting together a solid performance.</p><p>The offense is a bit thin, but he has rookie Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers as his top pass-catching options. Not to mention, Ridder knows the Falcons defensive scheme about as well as anybody. While they have Jesse Bates III and AJ Terrell, the former quarterback could exploit any defensive lapses.</p><p>However, Monday’s game could pose a dilemma for the Raiders. The Giants have the worst record currently at 2-12. Although Las Vegas hasn’t played, they <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/news/report-do-raiders-have-best-chance-to-earn-top-draft-pick-01jesq9ycfkp#:~:text=The%20Giants%20have%20a%2038.9,round%20out%20the%20top%20nine." rel="noopener">might be interested in playing for a draft pick</a>. On the flip side, the Falcons are sitting at 6-7 and have been underwhelming. If they want to make the playoffs, they’ll need to keep winning, and that comes with a win against the Raiders.</p><p>No matter what, Ridder could prove to many once again that he’s capable of being an NFL starter. As long as O’Connell’s injury persists, Ridder may start for the rest of the season. Depending on how Monday’s game goes, Ridder could have eyes on him as a premier backup or even a No. 1 option.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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