raiders?? they're not going anywhere with collins at qb! moss was a dissapointment too!
There was no pointing of fingers and assessing of blame following a disappointing 4-12 season by the Oakland
Raiders.
Coach Norv Turner, as well as his players, seemed genuinely mystified how a team with playoff aspirations ended up losing eight of its last nine games.
"In each game you can point to a play or two that you look at and say, 'God, how did that happen?'" Turner said as he awaited word from the club on whether he would be brought back as head coach after a 9-23 record over two seasons.
The
Raiders were simply never able to put three phases of football together at the same time -- at least not often enough to even remotely approach their goals.
In a 30-21 loss to the New York
Giants, the dormant
Raiders passing offense perked up -- quarterback
Kerry Collins hit 26 of 48 passes for 331 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions -- but defense and special teams imploded.
For all of Oakland's problems, giving up big plays wasn't one of them through 15 games. Against the
Giants,
Tiki Barber ran 95 yards for a touchdown,
Eli Manning hit
Plaxico Burress for a 78-yard touchdown, and
Chad Morton set up a touchdown with a 58-yard punt return.
"It doesn't happen all year, then it happens," cornerback
Nnamdi Asomugha said.
Not that Oakland's offense was blameless. The
Raiders couldn't run the ball (17 carries for 25 yards) and failed to score on four chances from the 1.
"That's pretty summarizes how our whole season went," left tackle
Barry Sims said. "We needed to make plays when they needed to be made in all phases of the game. We need to come back with this feeling we have to drive us."
Collins, whose $12.9 million salary-cap figure in 2006 makes his future uncertain, had no answers. "I wish I could say I had a good explanation," Collins said. "It was a different thing in every game. I'll take the responsibility as mine. It's disappointing, the whole season, but I'm proud of the way the guys hung in there and fought."