A pair of former Raiders released by Jon Gruden had big roles in the playoffs

In yet another season where the Raiders didn’t make the playoffs, Jon Gruden is still having an influence on the playoffs because some former Raiders let go by Gruden were making noise in the postseason. In this case, it was a pair of former Raiders knocking some other former Raiders and their teams out of the playoffs.

Everyone knows about the Raiders trading away Khalil Mack to the Bears and Amari Cooper to the Cowboys, but there were actually two lesser known former Raiders players that ended up knocking Mack and Cooper out of the playoffs.

Remember Treyvon Hester? He’s the Eagles defensive tackle that got the tip of his finger on Cody Parkey’s missed game-winning field-goal attempt in the Wild Card Round.

Yup, he’s a former Oakland Raider. Hester was waived by the team before the start of the regular season as part of a minor roster move. Hester’s block sent Khalil Mack home in the first round of the playoffs after he had 12.5 sacks in 14 games during his first season as a Chicago Bear.

In the Divisional Round, another player who was cut by Gruden played a pivotal role in eliminating a player who was traded away by Gruden.

Los Angeles Rams running back C.J. Anderson had a six-day stint with the Raiders from Dec. 5-11 before being waived by the team without seeing any game action. A week later, Anderson was signed by the Los Angeles Rams.

In three games for the Rams — including the Divisional win over the Dallas Cowboys — Anderson rushed for 422 yards and four touchdowns.

Anderson’s performance in that game helped send Amari Cooper and the rest of the Cowboys packing.

In the grand scheme of things, letting go of Treyvon Hester and C.J. Anderson doesn’t matter much for the Raiders, but it’s still funny to see even the smaller roster moves by Jon Gruden having ramifications throughout the league on its biggest stages.