Bill Williamson, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Raiders can't win third straight nail-biter, vow to learn from it

CHICAGO -- This was a bad loss, there’s no other way of describing it.

The Oakland Raiders had a 3-1 record in their grasp. But the team that won a total of three games in 2014 couldn’t close the deal on a third straight victory in the final seconds.

After beating Baltimore at home in Week 2 on a touchdown scored in the final seconds and then snapping an 11-game road losing streak on an interception in the final seconds at Cleveland in Week 3, the Raiders appeared to be on their way to a one-point win over the woeful and beaten-up Chicago Bears.

Then Oakland’s last-second fortune ran out.

After Sebastian Janikowski gave the Raiders a 20-19 lead with a field goal with 2:05 to go, Chicago -- without its left tackle, center and top receiver and with a gimpy quarterback -- marched down the field to kick the winning field goal against a vulnerable Oakland defense to take the 22-20 victory.

This was a game the Bears begged Oakland to win, even though Chicago set the tone much of the day. This was a game Oakland should have won to set up an AFC West showdown against visiting Denver next week.

Instead, it was a reminder to the Raiders that they are still a work in progress.

“You’re just not going to win every close game, that’s just the way it is,” Oakland left tackle Donald Penn said. “I’d love to and want to win all these close games, but it’s not reality. …  We’re still building. We’re trying to get better. We’ll learn from this.”

Penn’s message was essentially echoed by all in the Oakland locker room, including head coach Jack Del Rio, who said: "We'll take ownership of what happened and move on” in a short postgame news conference.

The Raiders are 2-2, and their two losses came in very different manners. In Week 1, Oakland was absolutely smoked 33-13 by Cincinnati in a game the Raiders once trailed 33-0. After that game, the locker room was a sullen, worried environment. The Raiders believed all offseason they’d be better, but nearly every player played poorly.

The feeling in the locker room following Sunday's loss was much different. The Raiders knew they lost a winnable game and blew a wonderful opportunity to match their 2014 win total four weeks into the season. But they weren’t in despair. They know they will compete.

Still, when a building franchise has a chance to win, it must do so. The Raiders’ schedule will toughen. Their past three opponents have a combined record of 3-9. The Raiders play the Broncos, Chargers, Jets and Steelers in the next four weeks.

“We just have to move forward,” right tackle Austin Howard said. “Today, they were one play better than us. That’s something we have to fix going forward.”

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