It’s official. There are now people who just became adults who have lived through just one winning season ever for the Raiders. And as of last night, with their loss to the Dolphins, the Raiders are now the only NFL franchise that can claim that.
Fewest winning seasons in past 18 years:#Raiders 1
Browns 2#49ers 4
Lions 4
Jaguars 4— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 27, 2020
That one winning season occurred in 2016 when they went 12-4. That, of course, was the season Derek Carr was on a tear all season, only to break his fibula in Week 16 which caused the team to lose the finale and the wild card game to the Texans. Prior to that was the Super Bowl season of 2002.
The Browns notched their second winning season in the past 18 years with a Week 13 win over the Titans. And up until last night, the Raiders still had a chance to keep pace, but they would lose to the Dolphins to fall to 7-8 on the season and be eliminated from the playoffs with one game left.
It’s been the Browns that have been synonymous with losing for some time now. And up until now, the Raiders could at least claim they weren’t alone in their struggles. Not anymore. The Browns are good now. The Raiders showed signs of being good, beginning this season at 6-3, even beating the Browns along the way, only to collapse after that, pulling out just one improbably overtime win over the hapless Jets.
And if the Raiders lose next week, it will not just be a non-winning season. It will be another losing season. Not that it matters much now.
