Perspective is everything, and while the Oakland Raiders’ Week 2 loss to the hated Kansas City Chiefs was a deflating one, believe it or not, there are some positive takeaways.
You never want to lose to a division rival, especially badly, but you need to take the good with the bad. Leave the misery to the coaching staff, here’s the return of the silver (and black) lining series, where we highlight the good parts of yet another ugly Raiders loss.
Raiders: The Silver (And Black) Lining: Week Two (2019)
The Team Didn’t Stop Fighting
A lot of people look at the box score and say, jeez, the Raiders only had one good quarter. They went up 10-0 and then didn’t do anything else for the rest of the game. In reality, the opposite is true. The reality is they had one really, really bad quarter and played fundamentally sound football the rest of the game. They gave up 28 points in the second quarter, which was horrible, but they held the Chiefs scoreless in the other three quarters.
Realistically, Chiefs teams in the past would’ve put 50 points on the Raiders. They would’ve rolled over and called it a day and the Falcons would’ve eaten them alive. The defense never stopped fighting. They made adjustments, stayed physical, and contained plays after the catch. Those four touchdowns were disgusting, no doubt, but this team is much better.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and as much as Raider Nation wanted to beat Kansas City, they’re just not ready yet. This team has heart, they want to win, and they didn’t give up, even when it seemed out of reach before the first half was over.
Josh Jacobs is Great
Josh Jacobs is fantastic. Marshawn Lynch dealt with injuries, Latavius Murray was a product of his system, and Darren McFadden couldn’t stay healthy. The Raiders finally have a really great tailback, and he’s going to carry the Raiders to a few wins before he hangs up the cleats.
Cruising Carr
Two miscommunications turned into two interceptions for Derek Carr, but he still played pretty well. Specifically, there’s one thing I really loved about Carr on Sunday. He took off with his legs. He extended plays with his legs and actually scrambled, including a 2016-esque scramble into a dive on third and long that should’ve been a first down.
Carr’s Chief struggles continued, but hey, it’s been almost a full season since he threw an interception to a team other than Kansas City. That’s still 14 games a year! Woo! In all seriousness, the Raiders just need to work out a few kinks. If Carr finds Williams in the endzone, they’re down 28-17 and considering how well Oakland’s defense continued to play, who knows?
The Raiders are so much better than they were in 2018, it’s ridiculous. The silver (and black) lining might seem like a gimmick, but this squad is dramatically improved. The Raiders have a long road trip ahead of them, and it would be incredible to emerge from it with a winning record. But the Raiders are on the right track for the first time in a very long time.