Before tomorrow’s matchup with the Chicago Bears, what were some positive takeaways from the Las Vegas Raiders’ loss in Week 4?
The Raiders lost for the first time this season on Monday night against the Chargers. Many things went wrong, such as O-line struggles, injuries, and coaching. Besides all that, there were still a couple of silver linings to it.
Made it competitive in the second half
The game looked like it was over by halftime. The offense could not get anything going, which led to a 21-point deficit. However, Derek Carr and the offense started to click to start the second half. They scored on back-to-back touchdown drives and made it a 21-14 by the fourth quarter. The defense also deserves credit for getting some stops after the scoring drives, which gave the team a shot. Even though it wasn’t enough to win, it shows that this team is still different from last year. The Raiders in 2020 wouldn’t have made the same effort to get back in the game and probably would have lost by more.
Defense still held its own (Mostly)
Despite allowing 28 points, there were reasons to feel somewhat good about the defense. Even though they were on the field for over 18 minutes of the first half, the defensive unit could’ve been much worse. After the Chargers scored on their opening drive, they were held scoreless in their next four. As said before, the defense was able to get some key stops that could’ve put the offense in a position to tie the game. While that did not come to fruition, the fact that it was possible at one point shows the team has resiliency.Â
In conclusion…
We should not be happy with losing. Nevertheless, we can find some encouragement in knowing that the Raiders didn’t fold against adversity. The Silver and Black’s job now is to avoid situations so early in games. More importantly, they need to play a complete game of football.
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*Top Photo: Heidi Fang/Las Vegas Review-Journal