Was this season going to end any other way?
The Raiders are back in the playoffs after a characteristically bananas win over the rival Chargers, giving a primetime audience on NBC a show worthy of the last game of the NFL regular season.
But before the confetti had even been swept off Allegiant Stadium's grass, the Silver and Black were already looking ahead to Wild Card Weekend and a trip to Cincinnati.
"I just have this weird feeling in my heart that the job's not done," Derek Carr said. "Like my favorite player Kobe said: job's not done. I didn't set out to just make the playoffs. Our goal — this is one of them, but there's more after that too."
Carr's backfield mate Josh Jacobs agreed. Fresh off one of Jacobs' best career games, he acknowledged Sunday's W, but said he felt there may be more ahead for a team that doesn't seem to want to stop playing football this season.
"I said [to Carr], 'Man, it's time.' And he looked at me and said, 'Man, the job is not done.' And I'm glad that we all got the same mentality. I mean, we're happy that we're in the playoffs, but we want to go farther in the playoffs. It's a chance to play Cincy in a great environment, a good team — and they're hitting their stride too."
Across the ball, fellow team captain Maxx Crosby had another relentless game, constantly forcing his way into the backfield to harass Chargers QB Justin Herbert. In the fourth quarter, he passed Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson to set the mark for the most QB pressures in the NFL this season.
But all those accolades, all those made plays ... And Crosby only had one thing on his mind:
"We're worried about Cincinnati now," Crosby said. "Can't wait."
