The Raiders don't stand a chance in the postseason without Derek Carr
All magical seasons eventually end, but the Oakland Raiders couldn't have expected their wonderful 2016 campaign to be over before the regular season concluded.
This was a team that had made noise all season — it was going to make noise in January, too.
But when Derek Carr broke his leg in the fourth quarter of the Raiders' game against the Colts at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday, it brought an abrupt end to what had been an inspired campaign.
Carr knew that his season — and by proxy the Raiders' season — was over when he went down: the quarterback seemed to be saying "it's broke" when trainers reached him on the field, and he was immediately taken out of the stadium.
The Raiders were Super Bowl contenders with Carr. Without him, they don't stand much hope of winning a playoff game.
Backup quarterback Matt McGloin isn't going to lead the Raiders to glory. There's no feel-good ending coming in the new year. That's not a swipe at McGloin, who is a capable backup — it's an acknowledgment that Carr's shoes are too big for any backup quarterback to fill.
The Raiders are a flawed team. Despite having Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin, the Raiders' defense is a bottom-third unit in the NFL this season. It's been the offense — specifically Carr and the passing game — that has guided the Raiders to 12 wins in 15 games and their first postseason appearance since 2002.
Carr was having an MVP-type season before he dislocated his pinkie finger in the team's Week 12 win over Carolina.
And on Sunday, he was playing his best game since he sustained that injury — it looked like he was rounding back into elite form — only for a worse injury to happen.
The Raiders quarterback was injured while holding a 19-point lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, dropping back to pass on second-and-18.
CBS' cameras caught Raiders owner Mark Davis looking up from his binoculars after the play and apparently exclaiming "You don't throw the (expletive) ball (there)," but there's no one to blame for the Carr injury, try as some might to pinpoint a scapegoat.
Raiders coach Jack Del Rio wasn't derelict in his duties to have Carr in the game and throwing in that situation.
Trent Cole's tackle on the Raiders quarterback wasn't a cheap shot by any stretch of the imagination, either.
It was just the chaos and unfairness of football coming together in a single moment.
McGloin will likely get his shot to lead the Raiders on the path that was already set out, but he won't be able to recreate the magic that Carr brought to the Raiders this year.
Oakland might have a great offensive line, a solid running game and good receivers, but the Raiders need Carr to make all of those pieces work. He was the glue, and he made the Raiders one of the best teams in the NFL.
Without him, they're just a team with a flawed defense and little to no shot of making noise in the playoffs.
