ALAMEDA — Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel wanted no part of hearing about how badly the Raiders were beaten in their last two road games.
Not when his Titans are in the thick of the AFC South race and making their final visit to the Coliseum on Sunday.
“We’re focused on a team that’s 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, a defense that gives up 20 points a game at the Oakland Coliseum, an offense that averages 360 yards at the Oakland Coliseum and a team that’s plus-four in turnover margin at home,” Vrabel told Bay Area reporters by conference call. “We’re very well aware of the success that they’ve had.”
Wouldn’t you know it? The Raiders have the home field advantage Al Davis always wanted and now they’re leaving for Las Vegas.
Home field advantage, plus getting revenues from luxury boxes, were the reasons Davis moved the Raiders back to Oakland after 13 years at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Alas, it didn’t turn out that way.
No amount of over-the-top rabid fan support can compensate for questionable personnel decisions and a revolving door of coaches. As sure as Davis was the innovative maverick who deservedly made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was also the aging icon who ran his franchise aground when it came back to Oakland.
Excluding “home” games played in foreign countries, the Raiders are 90-105 at home since 1995, a .462 winning percentage considerably better than the 69-132 on the road (.343). Their home-road disparity as the Los Angeles Raiders from 1982 through 1994 was a 64 percent win rate at home (64-36) to 54 percent on the road (54-46).
So while the Raiders may have gotten more of a boost out of the Oakland Coliseum than the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, it wasn’t going to make up for an inferior roster and push a good team to great. Rather, in most cases it merely took a bad team and made it below average.
Even if the Raiders lose their last two home games against the Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars, they’ll be ensured just their seventh winning record at home in their 25-season second act in Oakland:
1999: 5-3, finished 8-8
2000: 7-1, finished 12-4
2001: 5-1, finished 10-6
2002: 6-2, finished 11-5
2010: 5-3, finished 8-8
2016: 5-2 (not including “home” win in Mexico City), finished 12-4
2019: 4-1 (6-6 with two remaining)
The Raiders are much more competitive this season at home. Their minus-87 margin of points scored/allowed has been built entirely on the road, as the Raiders have a 108-102 scoring advantage at home and away from the Coliseum have been outscored 222-119.
The away wins were impressive, a 31-24 breakthrough against Indianapolis in Week 4 and then a neutral site 24-21 triumph in London against Khalil Mack and the Chicago Bears.
Tackle Kolton Miller believes the Raiders’ 4-1 home record is no accident.
“I think it’s a credit to the fans. They really get into it, attendance is high, they show their support,” Miller said. “It affects the other team and amps us up to play even harder. Teams don’t like to come here. They don’t like it when it’s a dirt infield. They don’t like anything about it. It’s a real advantage for us.”
Whether the home fans can help boost the Raiders into the playoffs in their final season in Oakland remains to be seen. Through five games, the Coliseum has been a place for the Raiders to fight and compete for close wins against comparatively marginal opposition.
The only playoff-worthy team on the Coliseum schedule so far was the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs, who put up 28 points in the second quarter in Week 2 for the Raiders’ only home loss of the season.
The Raiders seized control early in the opener against a Denver team that is currently 4-8 and won 24-16. The Detroit Lions are 3-8-1 and the Raiders prevailed 31-24 when Karl Joseph broke up a pass in the end zone. The Los Angeles Chargers, 4-8, weren’t vanquished by a 26-24 score until Joseph’s fourth-down interception of Philip Rivers in the final minute. And the Cincinnati Bengals, 1-11, stayed within 17-10 on Nov. 17.
That’s four close wins, none of them approaching the kind of home blowout you might expect at least once from a team with playoff aspirations. The teams the Raiders beat for their four home wins have a combined record of 12-35-1.
So the Titans, at 7-5 with five wins in their last six games, are easily the best team since the Chiefs to visit the Coliseum. And Tennessee even beat the Chiefs 35-32 in Nashville on Nov. 10. The Chiefs own a 68-19 advantage over the Raiders in two games.
While it’s one thing to believe the home crowd has provided the push for the Raiders to win close games against dubious opposition, it’s another to think the Black Hole and friends can carry the day against a Titans team that currently holds the No. 6 playoff position in the AFC.
The Raiders will have to do the heavy lifting themselves. Two chances remain to provide memories and reward an East Bay fan base for hanging in there with a team that has mostly let them down for 25 years.
The beauty of it for Mark Davis and Co., at least until the heartbreak takes hold, is that those fans supported the Raiders anyway.
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