Saturday was a long, long, loooong day for Raiders rookie Connor Cook. The third-string quarterback made his first NFL start in the wild-card matchup against the Texans and it's hard to envision how things could have gone worse.

When it was over, Cook was 18 of 45 for 161 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, and Houston cruised to a 27-14 victory. Adding insult to injury, NFL talking head and former Ravens head coach Brian Billick used Cook's struggles to remind everyone of one of the biggest mistakes of Billick's career. Yes, that's right, he invoked the name of Kyle Boller, and compared the former Ravens' first-round pick to Cook, who was drafted in the fourth round last May.


Continuing with the Boller theme, Cook was frank when asked after the game what he learned from the experience.

"To be more accurate, obviously," he said laughing, via ESPN.com. "Don't sail it over guys' heads and throw interceptions. Get rid of the ball quicker, and use my check downs."

But this loss doesn't rest solely with Cook. One of the league's best offensive lines was battered coming into the game, and let's not forget that legit MVP candidate Derek Carr suffered a broken leg in late December derailing a storybook season to that point -- and his backup, Matt McGloin, was injured last week, forcing Cook onto the field.

And while McGloin dressed on Saturday, he stayed on the bench, which raised some eyebrows after Cook struggled early. Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was asked about that decision.

"I asked at halftime," he told reporters after the game, via USAToday.com's Lorenzo Reyes. "The coaches really felt like there were other things that were kind of contributing and that it wasn't going to be a big change with a change at quarterback. So we stayed the course with that. ...

"It was his first start, on the road, in a playoff game, against the No. 1-ranked defense," Del Rio continued. "It was a tough draw for him. We hoped that we'd be able to do enough around him that he wouldn't be asked to do as much."

McGloin was asked if he lobbied the coaches to play.

"It's not my decision," he said. "It doesn't really matter what I do, what I think. ... "You always want to get in there, want to play. That's why we have team doctors, that's why we have trainers that are looking out for the best interests of you and the best interests of the team."