Oakland Raiders: 5 takeaways from four-game losing streak
By John Buhler
Why are they overlooking the opposition?
This is a hard one to explain, but it feels like the Raiders have been overlooking their opposition all year long. Oakland has had the Tennessee Titans’ number for the last three years and who saw the New York Jets as a team capable of winning three games before Halloween anyway?
That being said, it hasn’t felt like this team has properly respected its opponent in the last four weeks. Some of that might fall on us, honestly. The Washington Redskins game in Week 3 was a complete debacle. There were opportunities to beat Denver in Week 4, but offense was too inert to get it done versus the Broncos at Mile High.
The Baltimore Ravens had been terrible offensively, but Joe Flacco was able to carve up the Oakland defense en route to a road victory over the Raiders in Week 5. It was a tough battle in Week 6, but a Derek Carr interception deep in Chargers territory and a missed PAT by Giorgio Tavecchio allowed the Los Angeles Chargers to win on a last-second field goal by Nick Novak.
Of course, the Raiders will have to get up for the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, but why has it felt like Oakland has taken its opposition lightly all season? Last year’s success happened last year. Oakland can’t continue to hold its hat on what the 2016 team did. A lot of this has to fall on the coaching staff and the players not getting it done.