Ever since their Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots, the Atlanta Falcons have been the poster boys for blown leads in the NFL. The Las Vegas Raiders are quickly earning that title for themselves. For the third time this season, the Raiders have blown a 17-0 lead. They led the Cardinals 20-0 and held a 17-point advantage over both the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars. Somehow, the Raiders lost all three of those games.
If Las Vegas could’ve held on to those massive leads and won those games, they’d be 5-3 right now instead of the 2-6 hole they’re currently looking at. Still, the past is the past, and raider nation as a whole has been through this story too many times. So, here are three hard truths following the Raiders’ loss in Jacksonville.
Derek Carr is playing his final season with the Las Vegas Raiders.
To make this clear, Derek Carr did not necessarily play a bad game on Sunday. Carr went 21 of 36 while throwing for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Carr didn’t lose the game for the Raiders, and he’s not the only reason the team is currently in line for the third highest draft pick next year.
Still, Carr absolutely did not do enough to win the game this week. Carr had an excellent first half and fell apart in the second half, something that appears to resonate with the entire organization this season. His connection with Davante Adams went cold in the second half, and he seemed to crumble under the pressure of the ensuing comeback. It is simply not working with Carr, and the Raiders should entertain the idea of a new quarterback this offseason.
The Josh McDaniels-Dave Ziegler duo is not working.
Yes, we are less than halfway through the first season of this experiment, but there are plenty of reasons to be concerned. Many fans are calling for McDaniels’ firing, and their arguments are valid. The offense has gone cold, and there seems to be a true lack of leadership in the locker room.
There are some other confusing areas on the roster as well. Ziegler has done an excellent job with contract extensions as well as the Raiders’ future draft capital. Still, the inability to improve some areas of the roster doesn’t make sense. For example, the Raiders entered the season thin in the secondary but carried five running backs, only to give Josh Jacobs almost every single carry this season. The roster’s construction isn’t bad, but it hasn’t set the team up for success.
The Raiders will own a top-five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
At the moment, this is far from an overreaction since the Raiders own the No. 3 pick in next year’s draft. Las Vegas had its own share of doubters before the season began, but many fans had hopes that the Raiders could make the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in two decades.
Unfortunately, the Raiders are proving those doubters right. If Las Vegas can’t beat the 3–6 Arizona Cardinals, 3–6 Jacksonville Jaguars, or 3–5 New Orleans Saints, there is no reason to believe they can climb out of this hole.
“Reports” About Raiders RB Josh Jacobs Are Unequivocally False
*Top Photo: AP Photo/Rick Scuteri