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Things are spiraling for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Most recently, the team failed to pick up a win in its second straight road game, this time falling to the Detroit Lions, 26-14, on Monday Night Football from Ford Field. This season, Las Vegas is 1-4 away from Allegiant Stadium
“You have good days and bad days and today was a bad day,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “No sugarcoating it, it is what it is. We just have to play better – myself, I have to play better.”
With the loss to the Lions, the Raiders conclude their NFC North play with a 1-2 record with its lone win coming against the Green Bay Packers. Overall, Las Vegas is 3-5 this season bringing the Raider head coaching record of Josh McDaniels to 9-16 in about a year and a half.
“It’s not productive enough,” he said. “We have to be able to produce more points in order to win games in this league. Right now, we’re not doing that obviously that’s my responsibility and we’re going to take a look at everything we’re doing, everybody that’s doing it and try to find a better way.”
Looking to gain control of its season, Las Vegas will return home for a Sunday, Nov. 5 date with the New York Giants from Allegiant Stadium.
“You’ve got to look at everything,” McDaniels said. “If there was one thing that we needed to do a little bit better that’s simple. I think it's a combination of a lot of little things.”
Ultimately, the Raider defense grew weary in the fourth quarter of the game against the Lions. An offsides call against defensive end Maxx Crosby on a 4th and 2 spelled a bad omen on Halloween’s eve. Later that drive, Detroit would add a field goal to push the lead to 12 points.
In the third quarter, Crosby was responsible for a forced fumble and the recovery at the Las Vegas four-yard line to kill a thriving Detroit drive. Crosby racked up eight tackles and one for a loss while hitting the quarterback once.
Entering the game, the Raiders were last in the NFL in takeaways but proceeded to win the turnover battle in this one, 3-1. Linebacker Robert Spillane also recovered a fumble in the first quarter while defensive back Marcus Peters came up with a pick-six in the third.
“I thought the defense gave us great opportunities,” McDaniels said. “We won the turnover margin tonight but we end up not being able to win the game, which is kind of a rarity. But that speaks to the issues we had in the passing game.”
Peters would later leave the game briefly before returning to action. Las Vegas did lose linebacker Luke Masterson to a concussion after already coming into play without defensive players Byron Young, Nesta Jade Silvera, Divine Deablo and Tyler Hall.
Detroit used a strong rushing attack to wear down the Las Vegas defense mainly on the shoulders of rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs during his career-night. Gibbs would record 209 yards on 31 touches with a touchdown.
As a team, the Raiders compiled 157 total yards of offense.
“I thought he stuck with it,” McDaniels said. “I thought we were decent early in the game but this guy is a talented player. Obviously, they drafted him where they did because he has a dynamic skillset.”
Gibbs’ 152 rushing yards helped the Lions accumulate 222 total rushing yards as a team. As a result, the Raiders defense was on the field for 81 snaps.
Running back Josh Jacobs was the lone bright spot for the Las Vegas offense, rushing for 38 yards on the team’s only touchdown drive of the game. That drive was capped by a three-yard touchdown on the ground by last year’s rushing champion.
Jacobs would finish with 61 yards on 15 carries and that aforementioned score.
“We had that one drive on offense in the second quarter where we kind of got the running going,” McDaniels said. “But really it was more a game of missed opportunities for us. Really couldn’t make any plays in the passing game.”
Garoppolo made his return to the lineup after missing his second game of the year and the first as a result of his back injury. On the very first drive of the game for the team, he’d take a huge hit along the sideline while trying to pick up the first down on a third down scramble.
On the next drive, Garoppolo would launch his league-leading ninth interception of the year while targeting all-pro receiver Davante Adams. Las Vegas has committed turnovers in 15 straight games which is the longest active streak in the NFL.
“We can’t win if we give the ball away,” McDaniels said. “Period. There’s a lot of things that go into that, I just want to make sure I say that.”
Coming out of halftime, Adams made an 11-yard catch which went down as the first reception by a Raider wide receiver and his only of the game. Later in that third quarter, he’d have a crucial drop on a 3rd and 4 resulting in a punt.
On the final offensive drive of the game for Las Vegas, Adams was overthrown for a second time in the quarter, this time in the end zone. He’d be seen visibly frustrated on the sideline after another drive stalled yet again.
“He can [only] do what he can do,” McDaniels said. “I’ve said this before, receivers are the last in the chain. They’ve got to do their job but a lot has to happen before the ball gets to them.”
Garoppolo would go 10-for-21 with 126 yards and an interception.
In addition, Garoppolo suffered some big hits in that fourth quarter including four of the six sacks put up by the Detroit defense. He also avoided disaster on a low hit to the left knee that came late resulting in a roughing the passer penalty.