Raiders Round-Up Week 3: We Failed The Test

It’s hard to call a week 3 matchup against a non-division opponent a “must win” game, but it sure felt like that for the Las Vegas Raiders. After a narrow victory in week 1 and a blowout loss in week 2, the week 3 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed like it would be a true litmus test for the Raiders. We failed that test…miserably. 

 

As is the case with every Raiders game, things started out pretty well. After each team went 3-and-out, the Raiders moved the ball methodically through the air and set themselves up with a 4th and inches near the Steelers’ 30 yard line. Instead of a “safe” play like a QB sneak or even going for a field goal, the Raiders went for broke, with a play-action bomb to Davonte Adams for a touchdown. Josh McDaniels’ gutsy play calling showed that the Raiders knew how important this matchup would be. 

 

The following drive is where things began to fall apart. Facing a 3rd and 7, Kenny Pickett connected to Calvin Austin III (who?!) for a 72 yard touchdown, and things were squared up at 7-7. It would be easier to handle if this was a brilliant offensive play, but it was a straight “go” route for Austin, and the Raiders secondary let him get right by them. On 3rd and 7, there should always be somebody over the top on the defense, and there just…wasn’t.

 

The next Steelers drive saw the most crucial moment in the game for the Raiders. On first down, Kenny Pickett threw a horrible ball that went directly to veteran CB Marcus Peters. Peters dropped the ball, that would have surely been a pick six. It’s difficult to say that a first quarter play was the pivotal moment in the game, but it truly felt like that was the beginning of the end for the Silver and Black. 

 

From there, the Steelers went on to do what the Steelers do, pressuring and dropping Garoppolo with regularity, and the Raiders did what they do so well, making bonehead throws just as they were starting to put a drive together. The Raiders went into the half, somehow only down 13-7. 

 

Over the course of 3 games, a few things have become perfectly clear. Our secondary is horrible (with the exception of Nate Hobbs, who played his butt off in this game), our run game took a HUGE step back this year, and our coaching staff is incapable of making good halftime adjustments. 

 

The third quarter was abysmal, as the Raiders got nearly no offense going, and the Steelers scored a field goal and a touchdown to extend their lead to 23-7. Pittsburgh continued to dink and dunk down the field, as the Raiders came up with no game plan to stop what worked for the Steelers in the first half. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, found a way to neutralize the red-hot Davonte Adams, which ultimately led to the lack of offense and a 16 point lead.

 

The Raiders, to their credit, tried to make a comeback late in the fourth quarter. An 11 play drive, aided by a questionable roughing the passer call, allowed the Raiders to cut the lead to 23-15. The defense finally showed up in the fourth quarter, forcing two straight 3-and-out’s from the Steelers. 

 

With a little more than two minutes to go, and down by 8, the raiders faced a 4th and 4 from the Steelers 8 yard line. Instead of going for it, the Raiders kicked a field goal, bringing them to 23-18. Josh McDaniels was confident in a Raiders defense that had turned the corner, but unfortunately the Steelers were able to pick up the first down they needed to essentially ice the game. The Raiders did get the ball back, but it was deep in their own territory with only 12 seconds to go. Fittingly, Jimmy Garoppolo threw his 3rd interception of the game, and that was the end. 

 

In hindsight, it’s easy to say Las Vegas should have gone for that 4th down play, but with the way that series ended, with three pretty bad plays by the Raiders, and the fact that the Raiders defense was finally clicking, it’s hard to put this loss on that decision by McDaniels.

 

Pittsburgh won this game not necessarily because they are a better team (their defense sure is), but because of the Raiders self-inflicted injuries. Two critical interceptions, a plethora of dumb penalties, a missed pick six, and failure to convert in the red zone were what ultimately did us in. With the amount of times we shot ourselves in the foot, I was starting to think Plaxico Burress was on our team. The self-implosion of this team gave serious flashbacks to last year, when the Raiders blew 5 double-digit leads over the course of the season. 

 

Next week, the Raiders travel to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers. If they can pull out that victory, all is not lost, but they need to get a lot mentally tougher if that is going to happen. Also, TJ Watt is not human.