Oakland Raiders: Takeaways from disappointing Packers loss
By Justin Smith
The Oakland Raiders lacked discipline and appeared disinterested against the Green Bay Packers, a concern for a team looking to change their recent culture.
A complete lack of discipline and total apathy toward playing the game. Well, that was ugly.
It’s only preseason, many will say. Not a big deal. Sure, some of that is true. And the Raiders and coach Jack Del Rio typically don’t like to show much of their hand during the preseason. A poor preseason performance is no reason to panic. Or even feel it will have any effect on the real season.
However, when a team is mired in a quagmire of lost years for more than a decade largely due to a lack of effort and passion? And then they come out and show that trademark lack of effort and passion? Even in the preseason? That’s a valid concern, and something that Raider Nation has become uncomfortably familiar with while mired in the darkness of recent seasons.
The Raiders have enjoyed a wonderful offseason of talent acquisition, and their recent improvements and change in culture had many jumping on their bandwagon. Well, they sure looked like they believed it last night. As JBB’s editor-in-chief Chase Ruttig wrote in his recap of the game the Raiders showed up – but that was about it. And then they just went through the motions.
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They looked like they didn’t want to be there – they had better things to do. They regressed, attitude-wise. That’s disappointing, and that type of thing can infect a team and eat away at potential. As I wrote heading into training camp, a poor attitude can poison even the best of teams and derail best laid plans.
Del Rio has to make sure more than the play on the field, that the passion and drive are there and that the attitude translates to better execution and discipline on the field.
Next: Preseason Week 2 Takeaways: Offense