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Jon Gruden says he's like a cat after wild Raiders win: 'I felt like I died and woke up, and died again'

Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season is in the books, but we already saw what may end up being one of the nuttiest and weirdest games that's played all season. And who else could be at the nerve center of all that weirdness but Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.

The Raiders pulled out a wholly unexpected overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football, and did it in the most Raiders way possible. After tying the game with a field goal in the final seconds of regulation, their game-winning overtime touchdown was reversed after review. Immediately following that, quarterback Derek Carr threw an interception in the end zone.

That could have been the end of it, but these Raiders weren't done. They recovered the ball after forcing Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to fumble, and won the game 33-27 on a touchdown pass from Carr to wide receiver Zay Jones. Not only did they win, they won without having the lead at any point until the game-winning overtime touchdown.

At his postgame media session, Gruden described the experience of coaching that game in a very Gruden way.

"I felt like I died and woke up, and died again. I was like a cat, I had multiple lives tonight."

A cat is a pretty apt comparison, because the Raiders kept getting chances to win even after failing to capitalize on all their other chances to even get a lead. It was a wild ride, and Gruden the cat took a lot of people with him. Monday was the very first time the Raiders played at Allegiant Stadium in front of fans, and they all got the full Jon Gruden experience. Well, not the full experience. The full Gruden experience would have been the game ending in a soul-crushing loss. Hopefully it'll be awhile before Gruden takes the Allegiant Stadium crowd on that journey.