Temperature rising as Raiders suffer 3rd straight loss

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jack Del Rio witnessed some burns Sunday.

Too many for his taste.

There was the scorching that cornerback Sean Smith suffered on the opening snap, a 52-yard catch that set up a touchdown. The Raiders assumed possession but fumbled on their third play. Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith recovered and blazed 47 yards to a score. Later, Smith was charred on a deep pass again, that one a 54-yard catch.

Del Rio saw the burns in Week 5.

Then, he delivered maybe the most scathing of them all.

The temperature is rising for the Raiders, whose horrible start Sunday proved too much to overcome. They spotted the Ravens 14 points in the first four minutes and failed to tighten the margin any closer than to seven points, ultimately falling 30-17 for their third straight loss.

The frustration is palpable.

It spilled Sunday from the field to a tense moment during Del Rio’s post-game news conference. It migrated to the Oakland Alameda-County Coliseum parking lot where a heated exchange transpired between left tackle Donald Penn and a group of fans.

First, Del Rio took exception to one Bay Area reporter’s question. The head coach was asked about the two-play sequence at the game’s start — the first long catch Smith allowed to Ravens wide receiver Mike Wallace and, secondly, tight end Jared Cook’s fumble. The reporter inquired if those plays simply happen in football or was it possible his players “weren’t ready.”

Del Rio returned an intense, unamused expression. He grabbed a water bottle with his left hand, untwisted the cap and took a chug. He re-twisted the bottle while looking down. Thirteen seconds passed before he finally spoke.

“Clearly, not what we wanted there,” Del Rio said of the start.

In the parking lot, Penn swapped insults with fans. It’s a no-win scenario for an NFL player, and it was caught on a video that went viral on the internet. Multiple security guards were in the spat’s vicinity. A steel barrier and one such guard stood between the fans and Penn. After about 10 seconds of shouting, without any physical contact, Penn returned to his vehicle and drove away.

Penn later said on Twitter a fan “threw a bottle at my car,” hence why he confronted the group.

Added Penn: “I should of stayed in the car he was tryna get me to react so he could see me glad I took a sec 2 think.”

Winning heals all. If nothing else, the Raiders are craving the antidote.

They rattled off two wins to open their season. With losses to the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and now Ravens, they find themselves three games behind the Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) in the AFC West. Sunday’s loss was the start to a three-game homestand. Oakland hosts the Los Angeles Chargers and the Chiefs next Sunday and Thursday, Oct. 19, respectively.

“Of course, it’s frustrating,” tight end Lee Smith said. “I’ve been on teams that have lost more but never a team with guys like this, with talent like this, with the brotherhood that we have here. We’re so stinkin’ tight and close. We’re a family in here, man. When we work as hard as we work and you have that family atmosphere and that brotherhood that I’m talking about all the time and you freakin’ lose, it sucks.

“If you were to tell me we’d be (2-3) in August, I’d have bet you a lot of money you were wrong. I don’t know if I’m allowed to bet, but I would have. It is what it is. Like Jack said (to players after the loss), enough with ‘We’re better than this.’ No. We’re a (2-3) football team. … That’s what we’ve earned. That’s who we are right now.”

The coaches aren’t happy about it. The players aren’t happy about it. Neither are the fans.

Something would be wrong if they were.

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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.