Main reason behind Oakland Raiders failure was injury to Darren McFadden
It has been a tough season for the Oakland Raiders as they failed to make it to the playoffs after dropping in at 8-8 in the end. There were many faults and many loopholes of which the single most important factor that contributed
to their downfall were the injuries to key players.
The Raiders could never manage to come up with the appropriate and proper replacements at the right time and that was the main reason why they had their season ended soon. It was the first time since 2002 that they looked strong
contenders of the playoffs but all hopes came dashing down.
The injury that had the worst impact on the team was the injury to running back Darren McFadden. McFadden was missing in the team since Oct. 23 after he had sustained a foot sprain in the first quarter of the game against the Kansas
City Chiefs. A lot of speculation had existed over the player with the entire team hoping that he would make a quick return but that was something that could never happen. The Raiders team saw a fall in their NFL rankings with regards to rushing and it wasn’t
something that the management could do much about apart from just wait and hope for their player to recover.
Michael Bush was hurled in to fill out the gap left by the absence of McFadden but however that could not be promptly filled in. That is not to suggest that Bush was less in anyway and he did not respond to the situation as it
was required. In fact Bush stood up to the occasion shouldering as much responsibility as he could. For once it did seem that the gap will be filled but as more games progressed, Bush was found taking the strain as he sustained a shoulder injury. Although
that injury din not make Bush miss out any game but it did continue to nag and trouble him a lot.
So the gap was still there and it continued to persist hurting the Raiders all along the remaining part of the season. This particular injury was the one that damaged the chances of Raiders making it to the playoffs the most.
There were reports circulating midway into the season that McFadden may make it to the team again. McFadden was found taking part in some light jogging around the practice fields. That had the coach Hue Jackson excited and smiling
who said that the running back’s injury didn’t require a surgery and seemed to suggest that McFadden will make a return to the team soon. However, all that optimistic thinking and expectations didn’t materialize and McFadden couldn’t make the return in a single
game.
One of the latest news out was that McFadden would make it by the time the playoffs started but that was something the Raiders could see happening and McFadden’s fans missed seeing their hero in action for the whole season since
week 7. McFadden played for seven games this season.
This is not to suggest that other injuries did not pose a problem to the Raiders. They did and did a lot. Among the other affected players for the Raiders this season were Chris Johnson, Michael Huff, Denarius Moore, Jacoby Ford
and Louis Murphy.
The Oakland would have surely made it to the playoffs this season had these injuries not been sustained by their key players, particularly the one that McFadden suffered.
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