Silver And Black Pride
Sunday was a sobering day for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Not only were they historically beaten by a rival, but there were so many undesirable developments that all point to their first-year head coach Pete Carroll.
It’s been just seven games, but it’s fair to wonder where are the Raiders headed with Carroll, who at 74 is the oldest coach in NFL history. Carroll was brought into give the Raiders veteran stability and he vowed that the plan was to win and win big right away.
But the Raiders are, so far, no better than they were with Antonio Pierce as their coach last season. In fact, the Silver nd Black appeared to have more spunk under Pierce.
They Raiders are listless and look like they are going nowhere. Last week, they ended a four-game losing streak only because they were playing the Tennessee Titans, arguably the worst team in the league. This week, the task was much tougher and the Raiders were no match for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs as they were shutout 31-0. It was the biggest shutout in the history of the Raiders-Chiefs series.
The Raiders are 2-5 and have scored 103 points and have allowed 180 points this season. Under Pierce last season, at this point, Las Vegas was 2-5 and scored 124 points and allowed 183 points.
There has been no progress made despite the addition of Carroll offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, quarterback Geno Smith and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. The Raiders were supposed have made big upgrades. So far it hasn’t meant anything.
Both Carroll and Kelly have been major disappointments as has been Smith and the team has been able to get Jeanty going consistently. The Raiders are a big disappointment overall, but the offensive woes are discouraging to say the least.
The Raiders ran 30 offensive plays Sunday. it was the second lowest amount of any NFL team since the 1950s. yes, the 1950s.
They had three first downs. The Chiefs had 30 first downs. Kansas City held the ball for 42 minutes, eight seconds. This was a complete beat down.
The Chiefs were in victory formation with 2:36 remaining in the game and the Raiders had all three timeouts and the two-minute warning. Carroll didn’t even bother to extend the game. Former Raiders’ starter Gardner Minshew replaced Mahomes in the third quarter. This was an all-time worst moment for a franchise with plenty of them in recent memory.
Sunday was a stark reminder that the Raiders are, by far, the worst team in the AFC West. They have now lost eight straight division games dating back to the start of last season. The Raiders are 1-3 on the road this season (all 10 a.m. PT starts) and have been outscored by a total of 112-30 in three straight road losses.
They have been beaten by double digits in four games this season. They have not improved under Carroll. After the game, Carroll said he didn’t see this coming. He...
