Raiders Round-Up Week 7: An UnBearable Loss

A big congratulations goes out to Davonte Adams, who recently complained publicly for the second straight week (after two straight Raiders wins, mind you) that he wasn’t getting the ball enough. Well, you got what you wanted, 11 targets for 7 receptions and 57 yards…and an embarrassing 30-12 loss to the Chicago Bears. It’s important to note that one of those four incompletions to Adams was an open drop in the end zone at the beginning of the fourth quarter. 

 

Was Adams the reason we lost this game today? Absolutely not. However, it’s more than a little discouraging when your star player openly says he cares more about individual greatness than team success. 

 

Our reasons for losing were plentiful. An opening drive ended in a missed 41 yard field goal by usually sure-footed Daniel Carlson, giving the Bears immediate momentum. The rush defense gave up 4.6 yards per carry and the pass defense let Tyson Bagent (who?!?) to go 21-29 for 162 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions. On that note, with each passing week, it becomes painfully clear that this defense needs Nate Hobbs back in the worst way. He seems to be “week-to-week” every week, so maybe next week will be his week to return and shore up this weak secondary. 

 

Elsewhere, Brian Hoyer was horribly inaccurate and threw two interceptions. Halftime adjustments continued to be non-existent as the Raiders got blanked in the 3rd quarter…again, and gave up a 3rd quarter touchdown to the opposition… again. 

 

So no, the problem was not Davonte Adams, but the solution also was not Davonte Adams. The truth of the matter is the Raiders offense is most efficient when Adams is used as a distraction to free up the rest of the team. None of our three quarterbacks have the rapport with Adams that Aaron Rodgers had. He’s amazingly talented, but he’s not going to be “that guy” in this offense, and if we try to force that scenario, it will result in more of the same. The Raiders have said they will not trade Adams before the deadline, but they may want to at least see what other teams are offering.  

 

Speaking of our three quarterbacks, Aiden O’Connell entered the game in a cleanup role and looked much better than he did in his first outing against the Chargers. If Jimmy G is out for any stretch of time, Las Vegas should stick with the rookie and let him get some experience. Hoyer has had 15 years to earn a starting job in the NFL and he failed, let the kid have his chance. 

 

The positives from this game were few and far between, but it was nice to see first round pick Tyree Wilson get his first sack of the year (in garbage time), and Josh Jacobs rushed hard and trusted his first read. It didn’t result in much as far as yards go, but it’s nice to see Jacobs trust his reads and not dilly-dally in the backfield. 

 

Things won’t be any easier next week, as the Raiders take on the 5-2 Detroit Lions on the road. The Lions had a bad outing against the Ravens this week, and will be looking for revenge.