The Raiders traveled to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers in Week 4. They would start 4th Round rookie Aiden O’Connell at QB for this game as Jimmy Garoppolo was ruled out due to a concussion. Although there was some excitement due to the fact that the unknown rookie was taking the helm…the expectation had to be that this was not a game the Raiders would win.
Despite a rocky start…the defense actually played one of its better games by shutting the Chargers offense down in the second half. Offensively, though, it wasn’t great. O’Connell did not show great pocket presence as he continuously held the ball too long and turned the ball over multiple times. The Raiders had no answer for Khalil Mack as he sacked O’Connell six times…falling one short of the NFL record. Once again, outside of Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams, there wasn’t much to talk about on the offensive side of the ball. The Raiders have yet to score more than 18 points in a game this season.
The Raiders Big 3 of Jacobs, Adams and Maxx Crosby are doing everything in their power to will this team to victory. However, there does not appear to be much help coming. Jakobi Meyers has had some good games and Tyree Wilson probably flashed more in this game than he has all season…but outside of those guys…there just hasn’t been enough from the rest of the roster. Coaching needs to improve and they have to get these guys in position to contribute or risk everything crumbling down.
Week 5 presents another opportunity on a national stage at home. The Raiders will host the Packers on Monday Night Football. This is a winnable game. In fact it’s the first of three consecutive winnable games with the Patriots and Bears due up next.
Josh McDaniels is starting to take a lot of criticism. The offense is his domain and it’s putrid so far. The undisciplined play with idiotic penalties (see Jerry Tillery) does not present well for a head coach. The lack of use for anyone on offense outside of Adams, Jacobs and Meyers is inexplicable. The stars are frustrated as they leave it all out there. The Nation is beyond frustrated.
The waters are rough and if McDaniels doesn’t turn it around now this ship will sink.