We begin our final Odds & Ends of 2016 this week with the disappointing end to the seasons of Oakland Raiders quarterback

Derek Carr and Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota. Both signal callers suffered a broken leg in the games they played on Saturday and are lost for the year.

Carr suffered his injury when he was sacked by Trent Cole of the Colts early in the 4th quarter of Oakland’s 33-22 win over Indianapolis. Matt McGloin replaced him and will continue to into the Raiders’ postseason, something they’ve reached for the first time since 2002.

Many have wondered why Carr was still in the game at the time when the Raiders were up by three scores,while others wonder why Donald Penn couldn’t block Cole so the injury never happened. I was one of those people until I realized that this team still had one more game left and it would’ve been more appropriate to rest Carr in that game rather than this one because there was 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Colts could’ve made up the three score difference in that amount of time. They ended up closing the gap a little,but not much, but you want your main guy in there to either help extend the lead or manage the game well enough to seal the win. That task is now up to McGloin.

Mariota’s squad was looking to keep their playoff hopes alive and a win against the Jaguars would’ve done just that. Unfortunately for the Titans and their fans that didn’t happen and what’s worse was losing their star player in Mariota,who suffered his leg injury in the third quarter of Tennessee’s 38-17 loss to Jacksonville. Journeyman quarterback Matt Cassel will be the Titans’ starting quarterback in their last game of the season.

The Titans were not very effective from the start and were down 25-10 when Mariota went down, but their chances would’ve been kept alive by the Raiders and Bengals winning their games. The Raiders did their part,the Bengals didn’t as a Houston win sealed the AFC South for the second consecutive season,ending the Titans’ playoff hopes and continuing their playoff drought,which is now at nine seasons.

It’s a tough break for both teams,but I feel like the Titans were in worse shape after what happened because they were vying for a playoff berth while the Raiders already clinched. I do hope both these young men have speedy recoveries and are back and better than ever next season.

We had a neck and neck race to the bottom in Saturday’s games with the Browns and the 49ers.

I’ll be honest, I was disappointed that the Browns beat the Chargers 20-17 on Saturday. I was not only hoping to see 0-16 happen again,but a parade celebrating such a feat. In any case, Cleveland and coach Hue Jackson got their first win of the year and with that win would’ve given the 49ers the first overall pick with a loss to Los Angeles. The Browns snapped a 17-game losing streak dating back to last season.

While the Rams were winning the game throughout most of it,the 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick came back. Kaepernick found receiver Rod Streater in the end zone to bring the 49ers to within one point. Then Chip Kelly went for broke and decided to go for a two-point conversion to give the team the win and it was successful. The 49ers won 22-21 and snapped a 13-game losing streak,the longest in franchise history and with the win gave the Browns the top overall pick back to them.

I’m sure some 49ers fans weren’t exactly thrilled about the team’s win because many were and are hoping for that top overall pick to serve as a wake-up call for ownership to make some changes and to even give fans something to hope for this coming spring. Either way, I think the team messed up that chance by going for two. We’ll see if the Browns can actually win again and if the 49ers can lose again to see who holds on to that first pick.

Jay Ajayi and the Dolphins are playoff bound for the first time since 2008.

If there’s one team that I’m surprised to see clinch a playoff berth,at least on the AFC side,it’s the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins had their playoff hopes clinched not only by their overtime win in Buffalo,but also by way of the Kansas City Chiefs beating the reigning Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos at home last night 33-10, eliminating Denver from playoff contention.

The Dolphins end their playoff drought and get to the postseason under first year head coach Adam Gase and despite the fact that they lost their quarterback Ryan Tannehill for the season and are starting veteran back-up Matt Moore who has filled in admirably for Tannehill.

They’ve also had a sudden surprise with tailback Jay Ajayi. A fifth-round draft pick in 2015 out of Boise State, Ajayi became the starter after Arian Foster retired in the middle of the season and has over 1,200 rushing yards this season as of press time and had two consecutive 200-yard games, joining O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams as the only players to achieve such a feat. The Dolphins are hoping they can do more than that in the postseason.

The Warriors and Cavaliers met on Sunday for the first time since Game Seven of the NBA Finals and this game did not disappoint as far as its competitiveness.

The Cavaliers were down by 14 early in the fourth quarter and chipped away at the deficit and Kyrie Irving delivered the game-winning shot yet again,just as he did in Game Seven of the Finals, this time over Klay Thompson, as Cleveland won 109-108.

”The kid is special,” LeBron James said of his teammate. ”It was never in doubt.”

The Warriors did have one last chance to win the game,but Kevin Durant lost his balance coming off a screen and couldn’t get a shot off as time expired. Durant felt he was fouled by Richard Jefferson.

”I was trying to make a move,” Durant said. ”I didn’t fall on my own.”

I’m honestly not sure if Jefferson fouled him,but I do know that this was a great win for the Cavaliers and was proof that the right team won the championship last June.

Is it just me or do Warriors fans complain too much following a loss?

Make no mistake about it,this group of fans has had it pretty fucking good the last few years,but the display of sadness as if the world was coming to an end that they show when the team loses a game is absolutely annoying. The kicker for me is when they think the league has rigged everything against their team following a loss is absolutely laughable.

Yeah,because at 27-5 your team is doing so awful. You know,it’s bad enough that a lot of these fans have climbed aboard after their former teams,the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, have stopped playing competitive basketball,and now that they’ve latched onto a team that’s good and that had a good fan base to begin with, these fans think the world has turned against them when the Warriors net an L.

There are about 28 other fanbases right now who would love to trade spots with you and to have their teams be 27-5. It’s nothing to complain about. Ever. Take your loss to the Cavs like a real fan and enjoy your team’s glory days because one day soon,they will end. I oughta know!

That’s it for Odds & Ends this year,we’ll see you back in 2017 with an all-new edition! Happy New Year!