With first place in the AFC West on the line, the Las Vegas Raiders were subjected to an old-fashion butt-kicking. The Kansas City Chiefs walloped them 41-14 in a game that was broken open late. That knocked them out of playoff contention at this time.
2021 5-3 Start ??? Finish. #Raiders #Raidernation pic.twitter.com/h09T2WaG81
— Phil Robinson (@PhilRobinsonIII) November 15, 2021
Superstars needed!
In the brightest of possible outcomes, the current two-game losing streak would be just that. It’s not just the fact they lost the second game in a row; it’s how they lost. When removing the Silver and Black lenses of optimism, the Raiders find themselves amid a third midseason collapse in a row.
The Raiders offense was again stymied and grounded to a halt by a doormat defense. The Chiefs have allowed the third-most rushing first downs in the league 73, ninth-most rushing yards 1146, and the eighth-most rushing touchdowns with 10.
https://twitter.com/CJErrickson_NFL/status/1459925052854517761?s=20
Josh Jacobs was supposed to eat against the Chiefs. After chastising fans for being, dare I say fickle, about his productivity on the season, he went out and produced seven carries for 16 yards and no touchdowns.
Jacobs is on track for the lowest production totals of his career, save for touchdowns. While battling through a plethora of injuries, he has piled up an unimpressive 296 yards on 80 carries, five rushing touchdowns all within the red zone, and averaging 3.7 yards per carry.
In 2022, he has a guaranteed salary of $2.12 million and a cap number of $3.76 million with no dead money. His fifth-year option must be decided on this offseason. Jacobs has a great story and had an excellent start to his career, but his punishing run style has caused his body to break down and his production to decline. At this point, it would be better to trade him for draft picks and use him to finagle proven talent.
The clock has struck midnight on Derek Carr…
With that being said, watching Carr in the second half of the season is like watching Tony Romo after Thanksgiving. Neither of them does much winning. In the last two weeks, Carr has led this offense to 30 total points. Before the bye, the Raiders scored 30+ in a game 4 out of 7 weeks.
Derek Carr's passer rating by month in his career with #Raiders and rank in each month (min 250 att):
September: 96.5 (14th of 43)
October: 99.6 (10th of 51)
November: 88.6 (27th of 43)
December: 86.6 (31st of 45)
January: 84.5 (13th of 22 w/ min 50 att since so few games)— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) November 7, 2021
Carr has been the one constant through a whole lot of losing. It all isn’t his fault, and no one player should have to deal with the amount of turnover that he has. You can point to a wide variety of conditions that have hindered his ability to win. There is always a reason to point to and an excuse to be made for why he can’t win.
“You are what your record says you are,” and against the Chiefs, Carr’s diminutive 3-12 record indicates the Chiefs have some ownership of him. His only “clean” victory came last season in Arrowhead. A place where he has been 1-6.
Nevertheless, the Raiders lost this game at home. At first glance, his stat line may not look horrific, 25 out of 35 attempts for 261 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. However, his numbers were inflated by four catches. Bryan Edwards’ three catches and 88 yards and one touchdown and DeSean Jackson’s 38-yard strike. The rest of the game, he was 21 for 31 for 135 yards.
Defense can’t defend forever
Gus Bradley was billed as a defensive guru who’s had success limiting the Chiefs’ offense. On the season, he’s worked wonders for this defense, but the defense finally ran into an offense that knew how to exploit their Cover 3 shell. The Chiefs didn’t run the ball much but when they did, they stuck to zone runs and cutbacks.
Andy Reid uniquely deployed Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as a personal protector on Patrick Mahomes’ rollouts only to leak out for a short route. The Chiefs offense spread the field, isolating both cornerback Brandon Facyson and safety Johnathan Abram in coverage. Nothing worked for the Raiders.
What killed the defense was losing the time of possession battle 35:26 Chiefs, to 24:34 Raiders, and the offense going 1/9 on third downs. In the last four games, defensively, they’re nearly averaging 33 minutes of field time per game. In Week 10, the dam finally broke.
Refs and missed opportunity
Before I say the Raiders weren’t able to generate pressure, it was clear from the beginning the refs had no intention of calling it down the middle. Chiefs’ third-string right tackle Andrew Wylie was going to be able to do whatever he needed to do to slow down his former Eastern Michigan teammate Maxx Crosby.
The Raiders didn’t convert turnover opportunities when created. Rookie safety Tre’von Moehrig had an opportunity to intercept Mahomes and let it slip through his fingers. Nate Hobbs forced a fumble on an open-field tackle that Tyreek Hill was able to field on a bounce and gain three more yards on.
DeSean Jackson made his debut for the Raiders, instantly adding a much-needed dynamic to the offense. When he was on the field, Edwards was able to score, and the offense hummed. When Carr threw the ball to Jackson, he caught an underthrown ball tipped by the defender leading to much elation.
Just absolutely makes no sense pic.twitter.com/lg6UhGSRz5
— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) November 15, 2021
And then, boom, fumble. We may never know how Jackson turned a surefire touchdown into a fumble recovered by the defense. When it did, it was the last hurrah for the offense and consequently the final play in the game Jackson had.
[pickup_prop id=”15416″]
*Top Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images