OAKLAND, Calif. _ It's been an ugly year for the Raiders, but in what was possibly their final home game ever at the Coliseum on Christmas Eve, their fans were gifted the type performance they all envisioned for their team when Jon Gruden was re-hired back in January.
A torrential rainfall poured down on the Coliseum for most of the pregame, but that cleared up by kickoff as the Raiders then opened up floodgates of their own on the Broncos in Monday night's 27-14 victory.
It's unclear where the Raiders will be playing their home games next season. There's still the unlikely chance they make up with the Coliseum and stay for one more year. They might just go as close as across the Bay to AT&T Park, or even as far overseas as London. Whatever happens, the Raiders played as if they knew the possibility of this being their final game at the Coliseum existed, and turned it into a true Bay Area party.
Marshawn Lynch, Oakland's favorite son, got the fans going before kickoff as he lit the Al Davis torch. From then on, it was one big Raiders celebration as the night went on, with all fans in attendance who wore silver and black dancing to the many songs of Bay Area artists that blasted over the speakers.
As each Raider first-half touchdown came, first on an insane punt return Dwayne Harris and then a 28-yard run by Doug Martin, each player jumped into the stands to celebrate one more time with the Raider Nation before throwing up their hands in the symbol of an "O" for Oakland in tribute as they walked back to the sideline.
Dwayne Harris played a big part in getting the crowd hyped early with one of the most impressive and improbable punt returns the NFL has seen in quite some time.
After the Raiders forced the Broncos to punt on the opening drive of the game, Harris back-peddled near the Raiders 15-yard line and watched the ball sail over his head and bounce inside the 10. Just as a Broncos defender dove into the end zone to keep the ball in play for what was going to force the Raiders to start at the one-yard line, Harris raced in to pick it up and was off to the races. Collective groans turned into raucous cheers as he flew from near the Raiders sideline to down the Broncos sideline and got the scoring started with a 99-yard punt return for a touchdown.
The punt return was tied for the second-longest in NFL history, and the first Raiders return of any kind for a touchdown since Jacoby Ford's 101-yard kickoff return against the Browns in what was their first game following the death of owner Al Davis.
There was a feeling of unease inside the Coliseum, though, as the Raiders went three-and-out following a Broncos score that cut the lead to 24-14 in the fourth quarter.
Marcus Gilchrist, who had been getting the crowd hyped all night with some big hits, came up with a huge interception over the middle and raced over to the Black Hole with the rest of his teammates to pose for one big picture.
The interception was Gilchrist's third of the season and essentially the dagger as it set the Raiders up at the Denver 31-yard line before a Daniel Carlson field goal extended the lead to 13 points.
It was perhaps finest Raiders defensive performance of the season as they surrendered their lowest point total of the season and picked off Case Keenum twice.
Derek Carr's interception-less streak continued Monday as well. Carr hasn't had the type of season that was expected in his first season under Gruden, but his ability to protect the football this season is unmatched by any other quarterback in the NFL.
The holder of the longest active interception-less streak in the league, Carr made it 325 consecutive passes without throwing the ball into the hands of an opposing defense as he finished the night 19-for-26 with 167 passing yards.
Carr's current streak also continues to be the franchise record for most consecutive passes without an interception.
