The 2021 season was the Las Vegas Raiders' 52nd season in the National Football League (NFL), their 62nd overall, their second in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, and their eighth (fourth in his second stint) and final under head coach Jon Gruden. The season marked the first regular season to consist of 17 games. With a week 17 win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Raiders clinched their first winning season since 2016 and their second since 2002 when they lost Super Bowl XXXVII. After beating the rival Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18, the Raiders made the postseason for the first time since 2016 and their first in Las Vegas. Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia became the first interim head coach since Bruce Arians in 2012 with the Indianapolis Colts to lead their team to a postseason berth. The Raiders finished the season 10–7 and secured the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs.
However, their season ended with a 26–19 loss against the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round, which was Cincinnati's first playoff win since 1990. Ironically in 1990, the Raiders defeated the Bengals in that season's divisional playoffs, which began Cincinnati's playoff drought, which had been the longest drought without a playoff win in the 4 North American sports at the time. The loss extended the Raiders' drought to 19 seasons, the second longest in the NFL. The Raiders also won four overtime games during the season, a feat equaled only by the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos in 2011.
Despite the relatively successful season, it was marred by coach and player controversies. On October 11, Gruden resigned due to the publication of homophobic, misogynistic, and racist emails he sent prior to becoming the Raiders head coach. Special teams coach Bisaccia was named the interim coach. The season was also marred by controversies involving three of their draft picks from 2020 and 2021, respectively: first-round pick Henry Ruggs, who was involved in a fatal drunk-driving car crash and was sentenced in 2023 to 3-10 years in prison; Damon Arnette, another first-round pick who was discovered in a video showing him brandishing firearms and making death threats; and fifth-round pick Nate Hobbs, who was arrested in Las Vegas for driving under the influence following the team's Week 17 win against the Indianapolis Colts. Ruggs and Arnette were released during the season while Hobbs remained with the team till the end of the 2024 season.
Offseason
Notable acquisitions Position Player Age 2020 team RBKenyan Drake27Arizona CardinalsDEYannick Ngakoue26Minnesota Vikings/Baltimore RavensDTQuinton Jefferson28Buffalo BillsWRJohn Brown31Buffalo BillsDTMatt Dickerson25Tennessee TitansDTSolomon Thomas25San Francisco 49ersCNick Martin27Houston TexansCBCasey Hayward31Los Angeles Chargers
Trades March 17, 2021 To Las Vegas Raiders2021 3rd-round pick To Arizona CardinalsRodney Hudson CHI's 2021 7th-round pick March 17, 2021 To Las Vegas Raiders2022 5th round pick To New England PatriotsTrent Brown 2022 7th round pick March 21, 2021 To Las Vegas Raiders2021 5th round pick To Seattle SeahawksGabe Jackson
Draft
2021 Las Vegas Raiders Draft Round Selection Player Position College 1 17 Alex Leatherwood OT Alabama 2 43 Trevon Moehrig S TCU 3 79 Malcolm Koonce LB Buffalo 80 Divine Deablo S Virginia Tech 4 143 Tyree Gillespie S Missouri 5 167 Nate Hobbs CB Illinois 6 230 Jimmy Morrissey C Pittsburgh Notes The Raiders made two separate trades with the Miami Dolphins. First, the Raiders traded their fourth-round selection to the Dolphins in exchange for linebacker Raekwon McMillan and the Dolphins' fifth-round selection. Then, the Dolphins traded the Raiders' fourth-round selection back to the Raiders in exchange for wide receiver Lynn Bowden and the Raiders' sixth-round selection. The Raiders traded their fifth-round selection to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for wide receiver Zay Jones. The Raiders received the Seattle Seahawks' fifth-round selection after sending offensive guard Gabe Jackson to the Seahawks. The Raiders forfeited their sixth-round selection as the punishment for repeated COVID-19 protocol violations during the 2020 season. The Raiders traded their seventh-round selection and offensive tackle David Sharpe to the Washington Football Team in exchange for Washington's sixth-round selection. Due to the forfeiture of the Raiders' original sixth-round selection, the Dolphins will likely be the recipient of this selection.
+ 2021 Las Vegas Raiders undrafted free agents Name Position College Ref. Matt Bushman TE BYU Shaun Crawford CB Notre Dame Garrett Groshek RB Wisconsin Devery Hamilton T Duke TJ Morrison CB Stony Brook Trey Ragas RB Louisiana Max Richardson LB Boston College Darius Stills DT West Virginia Dillon Stoner WR Oklahoma State DJ Turner WR Pittsburgh
Staff
Final roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Seattle Seahawks W 20–7 1–0 Allegiant Stadium Recap 2 at Los Angeles Rams W 17–16 2–0 SoFi Stadium Recap 3 August 29 at San Francisco 49ers L 10–34 2–1 Levi's Stadium Recap
Regular season Season overview Resignation of executives In August 2021, CBS Sports noted that several Raiders team executives, including president Marc Badain, V.P. of strategy and business development Brian Doll, CFO Ed Villanueva, and club controller Araxie Grant, had abruptly resigned their post within months of each other. Peter King of NBC Sports speculated that Badain's resignation may have had something to do with team finances.
Resignation of Jon Gruden Gruden initially started the season as the Raiders head coach. However, prior to week five against the Chicago Bears, emails sent by Gruden (while he was employed by ESPN) prior to rejoining the Raiders as coach were leaked, which described Gruden using racist language to describe NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith. The Raiders made no announcement prior to the game, and Gruden proceeded to coach the game, a 20–9 loss. The emails were discovered in the investigation into the workplace culture of the Washington Football Team. However, a day later, additional emails were released by The New York Times that showed Gruden using misogynistic and homophobic language. After the publication of these emails, Gruden resigned. The Raiders failed to make any announcement after the resignation except to say that they had accepted the resignation and named Rich Bisaccia interim head coach. General manager Mike Mayock did comment on the situation two days later stating that he was "sad for the Gruden family," but also added that everyone is accountable for their actions. The same day, Mark Davis refused to directly comment on the situation, simply stating, "Ask the NFL. They have all the answers." It is believed that this statement was in reference to pressure from the NFL for the Raiders to fire Gruden and to "get" the Raiders. After the Raiders win over the Broncos in week six, Davis further commented that the Raiders do not stand for the kind of comments made by Gruden.
Gruden later filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell alleging that they sought to ruin his career by releasing the emails.
Nassib comes out In the offseason, defensive end Carl Nassib became the first active player to come out as gay. After playing in the Raiders’ week 1 game, he became the first openly gay player in NFL history to play in a game during the regular season.
Player controversies The Raiders wound up releasing both of their first-round draft picks from the prior season due to notable off-field incidents. On November 2, wide receiver Henry Ruggs was involved in a fatal car crash that killed another driver and her dog, caused by driving under the influence. He was released by the team later that day after being booked into the Clark County Detention Center. Less than a week later on November 8, cornerback Damon Arnette was also released after the discovery of a video showing him brandishing firearms and making death threats.
On January 3, cornerback Nate Hobbs was arrested in Las Vegas for driving under the influence hours after a Week 17 win against the Indianapolis Colts.
Schedule The Raiders' 2021 schedule was announced on May 12. The Raiders' game against the Cleveland Browns, originally scheduled for December 18, was postponed to December 20 due to positive COVID-19 cases in the Browns' organization.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Baltimore Ravens W 33–27 1–0 Allegiant Stadium Recap 2 September 19 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–17 2–0 Heinz Field Recap 3 September 26 Miami Dolphins W 31–28 3–0 Allegiant Stadium Recap 4 at Los Angeles Chargers L 14–28 3–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 5 October 10 Chicago Bears L 9–20 3–2 Allegiant Stadium Recap 6 October 17 at Denver Broncos W 34–24 4–2 Empower Field at Mile High Recap 7 October 24 Philadelphia Eagles W 33–22 5–2 Allegiant Stadium Recap 8 Bye 9 November 7 at New York Giants L 16–23 5–3 MetLife Stadium Recap 10 November 14 Kansas City Chiefs L 14–41 5–4 Allegiant Stadium Recap 11 November 21 Cincinnati Bengals L 13–32 5–5 Allegiant Stadium Recap 12 November 25 at Dallas Cowboys W 36–33 6–5 AT&T Stadium Recap 13 December 5 Washington Football Team L 15–17 6–6 Allegiant Stadium Recap 14 December 12 at Kansas City Chiefs L 9–48 6–7 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 15 at Cleveland Browns W 16–14 7–7 FirstEnergy Stadium Recap 16 December 26 Denver Broncos W 17–13 8–7 Allegiant Stadium Recap 17 January 2 at Indianapolis Colts W 23–20 9–7 Lucas Oil Stadium Recap 18 January 9 Los Angeles Chargers W 35–32 10–7 Allegiant Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Baltimore Ravens
In Week 1, the Raiders opened on Monday Night Football with fans in Allegiant Stadium for the first time in a home regular season game. The Baltimore Ravens arrived in Las Vegas after having suffered several key injuries to running backs in the week leading up to Week One.
The Raiders received the opening kickoff and moved into Baltimore territory before a shotgun snap that was not expected by Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr led to a 15-yard loss. As a result of the play, the Raiders were forced to punt. The Ravens were unable to do much with the ball and punted as well. A three-and-out series by the Raiders gave the ball to the Ravens at their own 35. The Ravens moved into Raider territory, but were faced with a fourth and one at the Raider 35-yard line. Ty'Son Williams broke through the line on the fourth down play for a 35-yard touchdown run to give Baltimore a 7–0 lead. The teams exchanged punts on their next possessions before the Ravens moved into Raider territory again. Lamar Jackson hit Marquise Brown on a 10-yard touchdown pass with nine minutes remaining in the second quarter and it appeared the Raiders might get blown out. However, on the ensuing possession, Carr was finally able to connect with tight end Darren Waller and move the ball to the Ravens two-yard line before Josh Jacobs scored to cut the lead in half, 14–7. The Ravens again moved into Raider territory with less than two minutes left in the half, but were stopped short on fourth down and turned the ball over to Las Vegas. Carr quickly moved the Raiders to the Baltimore 14-yard line, but had to settle for a Daniel Carlson 34-yard field goal as the half ended leaving the score 14–10 at halftime.