ALAMEDA — The Raiders parted ways Monday with the realization that they’d fought a number of good rounds but simply not enough of them to have their hand raised in victory.

“You can look at it and say we made strides, but we still want to be playing this time of year,” defensive end Khalil Mack said. “You’ve got to look at this and learn from it and not want to ever be in this position again.”

It was a much different vibe from previous years, being that the Raiders have an established head coach in Jack Del Rio, a nucleus of young players and were outscored by 40 points over 16 games while compiling a 7-9 record.

Contrast that with last year’s 3-13 record, during which the Raiders were blown out routinely and outscored by 199 points — the most in franchise history.

“I think we learned this year how to stay in the fight and keep playing, keep plugging away,” Del Rio said at his season-ending news conference. “You have an opportunity to turn these games into your favor, and we did a couple of times. And we had other people turn it on us.

“A lot of experience was gained, some good, some bad, but definitely a lot we can learn from as we go forward.”

For players who were used to being out of games by halftime against Denver or experienced the 52-0 loss in St. Louis in 2014, still being within striking distance in the fourth quarter counts for something.

“We all experienced it, and what’s awesome about it is what we did in our first year with everyone together (in 2015), the coaches and the new players,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “What did we do wrong in those fourth quarters? … We can train from that. We can practice that. We know what to look forward to when we’re in those situations again.”

Defensive tackle Dan Williams compared it to his 2013 season in Arizona, although the Cardinals managed to get things turned around in a single season. Arizona, 4-4 at midseason, ended 10-6 under coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

“I always figured it takes guys some time to learn how to play off each other and play with each other, like it happened toward the end of the season when B.A. and Todd Bowles got there,” Williams said. “It was a slow start, with new systems, new coverages. As we got comfortable, things improved. The same thing happened this year (on defense). Even though we lost guys, we had some other guys step up. It helped us overall.”

The puzzle of the 2015 Raiders was their inability to get their phases going at the same time. Their passing game was explosive through 11 games, with Carr throwing 24 touchdown passes and six interceptions with a 101.5 passer rating.

Right about the time the offense cooled off, the defense became stout, holding its last six opponents to 294 yards per game. Special teams, particularly in the area of punt and kick coverage, were fairly consistent.

“You put those efforts together, you go on a nice run,” Del Rio said.

A run nice enough to be a playoff team, perhaps?

“I think we’re very close,” Del Rio said. “You get a chance to earn that. There are 12 teams (in the playoffs), and they all earned their way in. It’s our goal to make sure we’re one of those team next year.”

Players, as well as Del Rio, are taking a wait-and-see approach to the franchise’s future home. “I was told a long time ago you control what you can control,” center Rodney Hudson said. Asked if he’d like to remain in Oakland, Del Rio said: “I grew up in Hayward. I’m back home. I love the fact that I’m back home, but it’s not my position.”