HENDERSON, Nev. — Hypotheticals aren’t going to do anything for the Raiders now. If they don’t go on a run coming out of their Week 7 bye, then their season is over.
The Raiders (1-4) haven’t been good enough to mark any game remaining on their schedule as a guaranteed win, but their upcoming stretch remains really soft, nonetheless. None of their next four opponents — the Texans at home, the Saints on the road, the Jaguars on the road and Colts at home — have winning records and are a combined 7-11-2 this season. It’s well within the realm of possibilities for Las Vegas to go into its next division matchup against the Broncos in Denver in Week 11 with a better than .500 record. Coming off a 30-29 loss to the Chiefs (4-1) on the road, they believe they’re capable of doing so.
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“That’s one of the best teams in the league and it came right down to the wire. There’s some things we want back but look at the film: We went toe to toe with them,” offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said Monday. “So, we can do it. Just put two and two together and I think that we’re gonna do a lot of great things.”
The Raiders have said all the right things throughout their rough start — and the vibe in the locker room was certainly one of a team that thinks it still has a shot — but words don’t mean much at this point. The Raiders have to turn their talent, resolve and confidence into results now. Their margin for error is gone.
“We definitely have a good team,” running back Josh Jacobs said Monday. “It’s just about putting it together, literally, for 60 minutes. And I know that kind of sounds like a cliche, but it’s literally the position we in right now. … We just gotta be better.”
Here are some areas where the Raiders can be better and others where they shined against the Chiefs. All stats are courtesy of TruMedia unless otherwise noted.
The Raiders can’t close games
The Raiders are tied for 17th in point margin but are also currently tied for the worst record in the league. While they’ve been somewhere around an average team, they’re much worse off than that due to their lackluster performance in tight contests.
“I think it’s becoming more clear to them,” head coach Josh McDaniels said Tuesday when asked what it takes to close out games. “I think experience and actually getting it done under pressure gives you confidence that you can do it again. And we did some of those things a week ago against Denver and we had our chances yesterday. Nobody can sit here and say we didn’t have opportunities last night; that’s not a true statement.
“I don’t think anybody here is discouraged about the fact that we’re not close. I think now it’s about what do we need to do in practice? What do we need to do to carry it over to the games to be able to really make the plays that are winning plays at the end so that we have an opportunity to close out a lot of these close games? Because that’s what the NFL is: It’s a lot of close games every week.”
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Their four losses have all come by one score, which has them in the same company as the Steelers, Commanders, Lions and Panthers, who are all also 1-4. I’m certain the Raiders are better than all those teams, but their record is their record.
It’s definitely been an odd conundrum for a Raiders team that had six walk-off wins last year, but winning games that way was never truly sustainable. Most times, pulling out a nail biter just comes down to executing better on a couple of plays. But, really, they shouldn’t have been in that situation in two of their losses.
They went ahead 20-0 over the Cardinals before blowing that lead in the fourth quarter in Week 2. And on Monday they went ahead 17-0 over the Chiefs before blowing that lead by the end of the third quarter. When they do get off to a strong start, they have to be able to continue to build upon it and pull away rather than find themselves in a struggle. Only bad teams allow the latter to happen consistently, and that’s what the Raiders have been so far.
“It’s frustrating,” center Andre James said Monday. “The NFL is hard, man. We’re playing the best of the best, so it’s difficult. You just try to look at the situations and focus on what you can get better at. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”
Josh Jacobs is playing out of his mind
With all due respect to Davante Adams, who’s had 100 receiving yards in back-to-back games, Jacobs has been the best player on the offense the last two weeks. After setting a career high with 144 yards against the Broncos, Jacobs was even better against the Chiefs and set another career high with 154 rushing yards.
Not only was Jacobs wildly productive, but he had one of the most efficient games of his career. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry, which is the second-best mark in his career. He averaged 8.3 yards per carry against the Broncos in 2019, but that came on nine fewer carries. Jacobs also had five catches for 39 yards against the Chiefs to round out what stands as his best game as a pro.
Josh Jacobs running with authority 😤 @iAM_JoshJacobs
📺: #LVvsKC on ESPN
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/qRoro7dq9P pic.twitter.com/iEgNYxYWZU— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2022
“It’s just really the intensity and the attention to detail,” Jacobs said when asked about his success the past two weeks. “The offensive line is playing great, man. They’ve given me a lot of holes. They’re making it easy on me just getting up to the second level and being able to do what I do. It’s really a testament to them.”
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Jacobs is up to 520 rushing yards for the season (third), is averaging 5.4 yards per carry (sixth) and has 143 receiving yards (ninth among running backs). Whether the Raiders are ultimately willing to meet his price or not, he’s playing his way into a hefty second contract.
The defensive ceiling isn’t very high
Maxx Crosby has been incredible. He had two sacks against the Chiefs, is now tied for the league lead with six sacks on the season and also has the most tackles for loss in the league with 11. The issue is that Crosby is the lone high-level playmaker on the defense. The rest of the defensive line has also been stout against the run, but nobody else has been a reliable pass rusher. The linebackers have just been decent. Nate Hobbs has flashed in the secondary, but the group has been shorthanded and inconsistent.
The overall lack of defensive talent and production is reflected in the stats. The Raiders are 28th in scoring defense, 20th in yards per play allowed, 21st in total defense and 28th in defensive total Expected Points Added.
Cornerback Anthony Averett (thumb) will be eligible to return from injured reserve against the Texans and linebacker Jayon Brown (hamstring) could also be back, but neither of their returns would change the fact that the defensive personnel is middle-of-the-pack caliber. The defensive struggles were a big reason why McDaniels was so aggressive against Kansas City. That trend may have to continue regardless of the opponent.
The offense is gelling
Even with Darren Waller (hamstring) only playing six snaps, the offense was excellent. It moved the ball fluidly as averaged 8.0 yards per pass, 6.5 yards per rush and 6.8 yards per play. The Raiders didn’t turn the ball over. The offensive line only allowed Derek Carr to be sacked twice. They put together six scoring possessions, including three touchdown drives.
The Raiders were shut out in the third quarter, but that feels like nitpicking considering they only finished one drive in the period. For the first time this season, the offense put its potential on display.
McDaniels indicated that he doesn’t believe Waller’s injury is serious. If he doesn’t miss time and can find his groove after a rough start to the season, the offense could become the driving force that keeps the team afloat.
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Extra points
• Dylan Parham and Alex Bars switched sides — Parham started at left guard while Bars started at right guard — which gave the Raiders their fifth different starting O-line of the season and was the 10th different combination they’ve used so far. There were a couple costly breakdowns with Parham and Eluemunor each giving up a sack, but the unit played pretty clean in the run and pass game. While the shuffling may not be over, the O-line is making progress.
“I really think they’re battling,” McDaniels said. “I think they’re getting better, together. There’s always things we have to improve; there’s definitely things we can make progress on, but I like how physical they’re trying to be. They’re trying to establish that kind of mentality. And we obviously need to keep doing that going forward.”
• The Raiders signed receiver Albert Wilson to the active roster, signed receiver Tyron Johnson and cornerback Tyler Hall to the practice squad, reverted linebacker Curtis Bolton and cornerback Javelin Guidry to the practice squad and released cornerback Darren Evans from the practice squad Tuesday. In addition to Averett, receiver D.J. Turner will also be eligible to return from IR against the Texans.
• Eluemunor started the entire game at right tackle, but Thayer Munford still got plenty of work in packages with six offensive linemen on the field. Munford filling the jumbo tight end role was already in the plans with Foster Moreau (knee) missing his second straight game, but it became a necessity when Waller’s injury left Jesper Horsted as the lone active tight end in the game. Munford played 19 snaps, with five coming on pass plays and 14 coming on run plays. It was pretty effective as the Raiders averaged 15.7 yards per pass and 8.0 yards per rush in their jumbo package. It’s something worth keeping around regardless of their health at tight end.
• The cornerback rotation was fluid. The Raiders used four cornerbacks across the Chiefs’ 69 snaps: Nate Hobbs, Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-Sin and Sam Webb. Hobbs played 79.7 percent of the snaps, Robertson played 73.9 percent, Ya-Sin played 65.2 percent and Webb played 30.4 percent.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham also moved the corners around as they all played both inside and outside at some point. Ya-Sin was coming off missing a game due to a knee injury, so maybe they were just buying him some rest when needed, but Graham has had a history of using several cornerbacks in the past.
Graham has also continued to use bigger-bodied players as slot defenders. Safety Johnathan Abram played 20 snaps in the slot (second-most on the team), fellow safety Tre’von Moehrig played 13 snaps (fourth-most) and linebacker Divine Deablo played 10 snaps (sixth-most). Abram, in particular, has seemed to benefit from being moved around more often.
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• Chandler Jones had his most productive game as a Raider with four pressures and three quarterback hurries. He still doesn’t have a sack, but perhaps this is the start of him trending upward.
• Adams may be suspended. The receiver apologized in the locker room after the game and cited frustration after shoving a broadcast worker, who’s since filed assault charges with the Kansas City police department citing injuries, but the NFL is still investigating and considering a possible fine or suspension.
To be clear, it’s understandable for Adams to have been on guard. When the Raiders were coming off the field at halftime, fans threw objects on the field and Eluemunor said in a tweet after the game that some fans called them racist slurs. Adams still had his helmet on and may not have seen the worker approaching from his peripheral until he was in front of him. Still, it was an inexcusable lapse in judgment. It could leave the Raiders without their best pass catcher against the Texans and potentially beyond.
“I don’t know that in terms of what may or may not come,” McDaniels said when asked if he’d gotten word from the NFL on any potential punishment for Adams. “I’m aware of what I’m aware of at this point, which honestly isn’t too much. I mean, I know what happened and those kinds of things. I’ve spoken to Davante. I support Davante wholeheartedly as a human being and as a person. He’s a great guy.
“I know that was an unfortunate situation. We obviously don’t want any of our guys to be doing anything like that. He knows that. He’s very well aware of that, but I know the person. I don’t think there was any intent behind it on his part. But whatever they ask of us, whatever they need from us, obviously we will comply. I’m not sure exactly where we’re at this moment, but we’re kind of ‘Wait and see,’ at this point.”
(Top photo of Josh Jacobs: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
