Blowout loss to the Chiefs is the latest sign that big changes await Raiders, but when?
.JPG "Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia watches from the sidelines during the first half of an NFL game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo.")
There are plenty of reasons to expect significant changes are coming to the Las Vegas Raiders, even if the biggest ones seem like they may be on hold until the 2021 NFL season ends.
A blowout loss Sunday to the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs was the latest indicator that things aren’t working.
It started badly, with a self-inflicted wound. Yannick Ngakoue brought his fellow players to the Chiefs logo for a team huddle and pregame pep talk in the middle of the field. It was a spur-of-the moment-type decision and high-risk move, given the likelihood it would anger both the Chiefs and their crowd.
And that’s exactly what happened. It triggered a snowball effect for the Raiders, who immediately gave away all momentum when Josh Jacobs fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Kansas City’s Mike Hughes returned it for a touchdown.
It was 35-3 by halftime and the Raiders never recovered in a 48-9 loss.
Las Vegas dipped to 6-7, its playoff hopes, at best, on life support, virtually needing to win its remaining four games and even then likely needing plenty of help.
There was a time when Las Vegas was sitting pretty, entering the bye week with Rich Bisacci 2-0 as the interim head coach and the Raiders atop the AFC West.
Of course, things quickly started unraveling for the Raiders with a disappointing loss to the New York Giants.
Since the bye week, the Raiders are 1-5 and have been outscored 194-103.
After the latest loss to the Chiefs (they also were routed at home by Kansas City 41-14 during this skid), the Raiders admitted their embarrassment in the locker room.
“Disappointment,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “Definitely disappointed. Most of our guys work really hard and try our very best to put good stuff on tape and win football games. I didn’t expect that outcome. During the game, after the first turnover, second, I didn’t expect that. I felt great what Oly (offensive coordinator Greg Olson) was calling. We would execute to a certain level, but execution is all the way to the whistle and we didn’t do that.
“Togetherness. It’s all we got. We all know everybody is against us. It’s going to be hard and all that kind of stuff, but that’s what builds character. People would say, take wins over character any day, but I was like well you need to have good character to eventually get it right. I see good characters where guys are going around to one another and saying, ‘Hey, man, I got your back.’
“There is some disappointment. It’s fresh and an open wound, especially coming here when you didn’t expect anything like that.”
Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright also used the word “embarrassed.”
“We had a really good week of practice,” he said. “The best I’ve seen and we were focused after the loss to Washington. We knew were were going to try to make this playoff run and for us to come out and put a performance like this is embarrassing to me.”
Time is running out for the Raiders to get going and at least finish above .500 for the first time since 2016. For a second straight year, a season that seemed certain to snap their playoff drought has sailed fully off the rails.
Change looms, but for now all the Raiders can do is try to salvage their season after it looked promising — again.
