Silver And Black Pride
If the Las Vegas Raiders were a serious team they would have won Sunday.
It was all set up for them.
The Commanders were extremely banged up and were playing without star quarterback Jayden Daniels who was out with a knee injury. The Commanders were quarterback by Marcus Mariota, who was making his first start in three years.
The game began a critical four-game stretch in which the Raiders seemingly had a chance to go 4-0. Then, they went out and showed they are not a serious team so far in the Pete Carroll era.
The Raiders were completely outclassed in all three phases of the game and were manhandled by the undermanned Commanders by a score of 41-24 (it wasn’t that close) to fall to 1-2.
It was the Raiders’ second straight loss by double digits. Remember, one of the reasons why Antonio Pierce went one and done last season was the fact that the Raiders were beaten by double digit nine times.
That trend is continuing under Carroll, who brazenly said multiple times this summer the Raiders “were going for it” and he expected them to win big right away. Sunday, he said that he didn’t see this blowout loss coming. He took the blame for the loss and said he was disappointed in himself.
Three games into the season, it is clear this team has a lot of problems.
Here are some key aspects of the game:
Awful offensive line:
Geno Smith was sacked 54 times (the third most in the NFL) as a member of the Seattle Seahawks last season. It was supposed to be better with the Raiders this season. So far, it hasn’t been better. Smith was sacked five times Sunday and was under constant pressure. He was under non-stop duress. Plus, the line didn’t run block well, either. This unit, other than left tackle Kolton Miller, is a mess.
Smith does what he can:
Smith wasn’t great, but he was better than last week. Most of his yardage (he finished with 289 yards passing and three touchdown) came in garbage time. His troubles were more of a product of the offensive line than his own mistakes. Still, we haven’t seen the explosive firepower Smith showed in Week 1 in the past two games and that’s on everyone involved, including offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Jeanty has his moments:
Raiders rookie running back again didn’t have much room, but he did have three 10-plus yard runs and showed some burst that was missing in the first two games. He wasn’t perfect, but he flashed some and finished with 63 yards on 17 carries. The Raiders still must work to get him on track consistently.
Quiet day for Bowers:
Star tight end Brock Bowers had just four catches for 38 yards. It was just a product of this game getting out of hand. Still, Kelly must work to make Bowers the focal point of every game.
Not much pressure on Mariota:
The Raiders were outplayed in...
