The Las Vegas Raiders came into the 2022 season with some expectations. Despite facing a ton of adversity last season, they were able to sneak into the postseason, setting the table for what they hoped was more success to come in the future. Instead, it has just been a lot of disappointment.
People who visit Sin City are hoping to hit it big at the casinos and oftentimes, they leave in worse shape than they came. However, that has not been the case for opposing teams facing the Raiders, as they have given away wins with regularity.
Las Vegas is 2-6 on the season after losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9. It was another inexcusable loss for the Raiders as the Jaguars are the third team this season to overcome a 17-point deficit and win the game.
To have that happen once in a season would hurt, but to have it done three times in the first half of the new era led by general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels is another level of pain. They spent big during the offseason to bolster this roster and while some of those moves have panned out, such as Davante Adams remaining a star, others have not, as Chandler Jones has 0.5 a sack in eight games.
This most recent loss seems to have pushed quarterback Derek Carr to the brink. He offered some veiled answers in his postgame press conference that likely will lead to more questions than answers for the media.
“You know, I think there is a lot I want to say, you know? But if I’m honest, I don’t need to say it here,” Carr said. “There are things that will be said. There will be things that need to be addressed and all these things. But I think as [a] whole, the urgency part of it, after 30 minutes of football, we have to learn that the game is not over.
“I feel like I’ve been in this situation a lot where new coaches or this or that and you have to teach the new guys like this is how we do it and this is the mentality. That gets tiring, but at the same time, it’s my job. There is some of that. I’ll say that right now for those things. But there are things in-house that we’ll talk about man to man and all that kind of stuff that could be addressed.”
Carr has been a beacon of light in what has been some dark years for the Raiders. He holds himself and the team accountable and has shown to be an excellent teammate no matter the circumstances. However, everyone reaches a breaking point and he seems to be dangerously close to his.
Coming off of an embarrassing 24-0 loss against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8, the Raiders looked good coming out of the gates against the Jaguars before falling flat in the end once again. That is a troubling trend that the entire team needs to take responsibility for.
This is a roster that has shown they can produce in the past. A lot of the key contributors from last season’s playoff run remain, yet the results aren’t anywhere near as successful.
Their Week 10 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts is a must-win for the Raiders as they will be the first team to face off against the Jeff Saturday-led Colts. Despite having zero coaching experience above the high school level, Saturday was announced as the team’s interim head coach after Frank Reich was fired. If the Raiders can’t win this game, some major changes of their own should be on the horizon.
