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Most Raiders players and coaches said during training camp that the humiliating loss they suffered at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII at Qualcomm Stadium in January was behind them, a thing of the past.
Yet, here they are a little more than 11 months later, playing their first game
at Qualcomm Stadium since their 48-21 defeat, and the reminders can't be ignored,
they say. The Raiders play the San Diego Chargers in both teams' season finale
today.
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"That thought will cross our mind somewhat," Raiders coach Bill Callahan said Wednesday. "The first thought I had is, I hope we're not staying in the same hotel."
Oh, they aren't. That much they can control. But they can't change the stadium
where the game will be played and they can't escape the dogged questions about
what has gone wrong since that loss.
The Raiders are 4-11 this season and 4-12 in their last 16 games, including
the Super Bowl loss. They can't help but hearken back to that Jan. 26 night,
when the Buccaneers sent them into a tailspin that continues to this day, outside
linebacker Eric Barton said.
"It's a little bit different this time," Barton said, "but it
is ironic. It's going to be interesting to go back there but as soon as the
whistle blows, it's going to be like any other game."
Raiders quarterback Rick Mirer didn't play in the Super Bowl. Still, he said,
he feels a sense of obligation to help the Raiders confront their demons and
gain a small measure of redemption.
"We want to go down there and finish our season a little better this year,"
Mirer said.
The Raiders likely will have plenty of support from their large legion of fans
in Southern California. That will make things easier on them, defensive tackle
Chris Cooper said.
Also, there isn't nearly as much at stake this game as there was during the
Super Bowl. The Raiders and Chargers have won only seven games combined this
season and potentially could finish tied for the worst record in the league.
"It's going to be so hard knowing the last time we went in there it was
the big show," Cooper said. "It's going to take some time to get over
that."
Callahan said he doesn't live in the past, that he moved on from the Super Bowl
loss early in the offseason. Yet, he enters today's game uncertain of his future
with the Raiders and might soon look back on the Super Bowl loss as the flashpoint
for his demise.
He arrived in San Diego last season as the toast of Oakland, the person most
responsible for getting the Raiders to their first Super Bowl in 19 seasons
and riding a tidal wave of praise for being the NFL's newest and brightest coach.
My, how things have changed since the last time he stepped into Qualcomm Stadium.
He no longer is held in such high regard and could be coaching his final game
for the Raiders.
It's a safe bet that that thought has crossed his mind, as well, and he never
will forget how a trip to San Diego changed his coaching career.