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DENVER – Jon Gruden was in a bad mood at his press conference after the match. The Raiders head coach has been concise with his answers and some combative ones during a press session that lasted a little over three minutes and usually lasts much longer.
A hint of regret broke in as Gruden left the podium and he expressed it as he left.
"Have a nice day guys," said Gruden. "Sorry to be a grouch."
Gruden was perfectly entitled to be. He saw his Raiders take the lead at half-time for the second week in a row, as the Denver Broncos won a 20-19 victory on Sunday at Mile High's Broncos Stadium.
The Raiders had the chance to put him behind with sustained offensive conduct. I could not do it. The defense had a shot at stopping the Broncos 'two minutes, but it allowed them to get into Brandon McManus' goal line. He nailed it 36. Game, set, match.
The Raiders fell to 0-2 as they could not close. They could not finish the Broncos even with several opportunities to do it.
This is enough to annoy a passionate head coach, especially one who has come up with a good game plan to see the performance weaken. The players said Gruden said he was proud of the hard work and sorry it did not lead to victory in Denver.
"He should be pissed off. We should have won this game, "said right tackle Donald Penn. "I'm angry, he should be upset, he's our head coach and he should hold us accountable, he should keep us at a high level, and he does.
"We had more than enough chances to win this game. We gave this match and the end of the day. We gave them all the opportunities and they took advantage of it. We had a chance to finish and we did not do it. I am with Gruden; he should also be pissed off.
While the Raiders were also leading half-time against the Rams, the Broncos defeat was worse.
The Raiders closed Denver in the first half. They had a 12-point lead at the end of the third quarter and let it slip.
"When you have a chance to stop them, while they have to run the field in two minutes, we, as a defender, should lick us the chance to win the game," said linebacker Derrick Johnson. "This has not happened to us today."
Johnson thinks that must happen soon.
"We have to find a way to win," said Johnson. "That's what good teams do. This is not a moment of panic for us, but it is urgent to win. "
The Raiders no longer want to win, and the undefeated Miami Dolphins will be ready for the Raiders on a hot, wet Sunday.
A long series of defeats to start the season can crush him and the Raiders must finish better to avoid this spell. The 2016 Raiders were excellent late in the game – that was the main reason the team played 12-4 – but they have lost the magic ever since.
Quarterback Derek Carr led many of these returns in 2016. He believes that these Raiders can find this formula to close the games.
"The first two weeks we did very good things and we also had things like" Man, I would like us to do better ". We have the recipe for the good things, I think, with Coach Gruden and (defensive coordinator Paul Guenther). I think we are on the right track and that we need – there is no excuse – we have to finish and win football matches. "
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