NFLBy Matt Clapp on

The Oakland (for right now) Raiders are getting absolutely trounced by a crappy San Francisco 49ers team whose starting quarterback and leading running back on the night are players most NFL fans had never heard of entering the game.

At the time of this post, quarterback Nick Mullens (yes, *Nick Mullens*) has completed 15-of-20 passes for 243 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The 49ers are up 31-3. The game is still going on.

And the third quarter really showed that this Raiders team has more or less given up.

Look at the “effort” from the Raiders’ defense on this 52-yard touchdown run (that could’ve just been a walk) from San Francisco’s Raheem Mostert.


Gruden then got into it with defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.

Maybe Guenther isn’t doing a good enough job, blah blah blah.

But the 1-7 record (when this game ends), and the team’s performance on the night, is on Gruden.

Gruden — let’s be real: he’s the GM at the end of the day — chose to make puzzling moves over the offseason with aging veteran additions. He chose to trade one of the very best players in football — who’s in their prime — in pass-rushing menace Khalil Mack one week before the season began. He chose to trade wide receiver Amari Cooper for a first-rounder last week (though this was actually a really smart trade once they’d already decided to tank).

Gruden made it clear that the Raiders were tanking with his roster moves. So *of course* that’s going to hurt team morale over the season, and especially after they’ve piled up loss after loss.

For the 2018 season, this figures to only get worse before it gets better, and expect to hear some pretty honest — and very negative — comments from Oakland players in the coming weeks. And probably after this embarrassing loss to a very bad 49ers team.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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