Amerson rips refs after loss, believes Raiders will be playoff regulars

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HOUSTON – Raiders players handled Saturday’s season-ending 27-14 loss to the Houston Texans in different ways. Most were introverted, in quiet reflection after a special season came to a jarring end. Others wish

Cornerback Derek Amerson was not. He was pissed.

He didn’t like the “one-sided” officiating. He thought the Raiders defense didn’t perform well enough against a lackluster Texans offense, and was clearly upset they lost in the opening round.

And, he is convinced the Raiders will be regulars in the postseason tournaments.

“Everybody can see the Raiders have talent,” Amerson said. “We have the coaches and the scheme. They all know they’re going to have to deal with us for the next couple years in the playoffs. Point blank.”

The Raiders played without MVP candidate quarterback Derek Carr and Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn, and the offense never recovered.

Having those two available may have reverse fortunes. Amerson believes that would’ve been the case now and in the future.

“They know that, when we’re full strength and everybody’s healthy – I know injuries happen – they’ll have to deal with us for the next couple years,” Amerson said. “They know that the Raiders are here. They know what’s going to go on. Some unfortunate things happened this year that we have to move on from.”

“…I’m not making excuses, but everybody knows that, when we’re at full strength, nobody in the league can touch us. We’ll take this loss on the chin, but we’re going to come back for sure.”

Amerson felt the Raiders were at a disadvantage all day, against the Texans and the officials. He was flagged twice in the loss, for defensive holding and a pass interference call in the end zone. He also gave up a 38-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins where the receiver barely got two feet in bounds.

“They say they’re going to let us play and then they don’t let us play,” Amerson said. “He can get away with everything, but as soon as I do anything, they call something. I feel like there were big points in the game where it happened.

“It was craziness. At the end of the day, hats off to them because they beat us. But, I don’t care what anybody says. It was one sided.”

The Raiders have to come back next year after losing to a Texans offense considered one of the league’s worst.

“We should’ve held them to nothing,” Amerson said. “We didn’t do the A1 job we should’ve done. We’ll take that. But there wasn’t anything about the offense that scared us or was going to give us problems. That’s how we felt. They got the better of us today. They’re moving on. We’re not. That’s the end of the story.”

 

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