OAKLAND — We are well past the point of fighting the inevitable, of forlorn thoughts of what could have — no, what should have — been.
The Raiders are gone.
They haven’t packed up yet — the team facility in Alameda is will be operational for a few more weeks — but Sunday’s contest, a 20-16 final-minute loss to the Jaguars, marked the final moment that the Raiders belonged to Oakland — the symbolic end of an era.
They soon will soon fill up some boxes, put them in trucks, and head to Las Vegas — to a new stadium, a new team facility, and what they think will be a brighter, more lucrative future.