3 takeaways from Raiders’ loss: New low in ugly season
Three takeaways from the Raiders’ 25-20 loss to the Colts on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium:
1. Inexcusable
The Raiders reached a new low in a season full of them.
They lost a game to a team with an interim coach with no experience at the pro or college level and an offensive play-caller who had never done the job at any level.
Somehow, some way, Jeff Saturday pieced together a good enough game plan in less than a week on the job to drop the Raiders to 2-7.
A two-play sequence in the fourth quarter essentially told the story of the game and, to some degree, the season.
With the Raiders leading 20-19, Sam Webb forced a fumble on a short reception by the Colts’ Michael Pittman. Linebacker Darien Butler was by himself with a chance to recover the ball and give possession back to the Raiders, but he couldn’t secure it.
Matt Ryan found Parris Campbell for a 35-yard touchdown on the next play to give the Colts the lead.
While it was a huge swing, there was plenty of blame to go around. The Raiders fell behind early, couldn’t generate a pass rush and committed 10 penalties.
They again lost a close game when the offense was on the field with a chance to take a late lead, but consecutive throws by Derek Carr to Foster Moreau and Davante Adams to the end zone fell incomplete in the final minute and the clock ticked down to zeros with boos ushering the home team off the field.
2. Slow start
The Raiders came into the game in desperate need of a win and off a week of practice that had players and coaches saying all the right things about being energetic and rejuvenated.
They were anything but when the game kicked off.
The Raiders opened with three consecutive three-and-outs and didn’t pick up a first down until more than three minutes had elapsed in the second quarter.
They had a total of 5 yards on those three drives, and their minus-9 net passing yards in the first quarter marked their worst output since 2008.
Carr misfired on his first five attempts, just the second time in his career that he had failed to complete a pass on any of his first three drives. The only other occurrence was a 2017 loss to Washington.
The defense also allowed the Colts to score a rare first-quarter touchdown. Before Sunday, Indianapolis had scored an NFL-low 10 points in the first quarter this season.
3. No pressure
Chandler Jones flushed Matt Ryan out of the pocket on a third-and-1 play in the third quarter, and Maxx Crosby was there in pursuit to drag down the Colts quarterback for a sack and loss of 14 yards.
It was a big play, as the Colts missed a 48-yard field goal on the next play.
But it was also the first sack for the Raiders in 13 quarters.
A pass rush that was supposed to be dominant has drifted into dormancy in the past few weeks and left the Raiders last in the NFL in sacks.
If there were ever a day to discover the pass rush again, it should have been Sunday. The Colts had allowed the most sacks in the league, and Ryan is an immobile quarterback playing behind a much-maligned front five.
Yet the Raiders were rarely able to put pressure on him in the pocket.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
