Las Vegas Raiders offense stagnates, Buffalo Bills capitalize in 30-23 loss
The Las Vegas Raiders fell to 2-2 on Sunday, as fumbles by Derek Carr and Darren Waller stunted their chances of a comeback.
The undefeated Buffalo Bills ventured into Sin City as the Las Vegas Raiders looked to get back to their winning ways. As the Raiders offense stagnated, the Bills capitalized to remain undefeated in a 30-23 win.
Buffalo got off to a strong which was propelled by quarterback Josh Allen on their opening drive. Allen went 5-for-6 on his passes, connecting with Gabriel Davis for a 26-yard touchdown throw which saw Raiders rookie Amik Robertson being exploited in coverage. With Las Vegas unable to answer back as their offense took the field for the first time, Daniel Carlson converted a 54-yard field goal to bring the score 7-3 by the end of the first quarter.
The injury bug has plagued teams across the league, and Las Vegas was spared no exceptions on Sunday. With both Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards out, the Raiders expected both Nelson Agholor and Zay Jones to shoulder the load.
Josh Allen carried the momentum for Buffalo into the second quarter, connecting with Cole Beasley on an 11-yard touchdown to give the Bills a 14-3 lead. As the Raiders defense struggled to generate any type of pressure on Allen, Las Vegas’ offense could only settle for field goals in return.
It took the Raiders two-minute offense to finally find their rhythm, with Derek Carr marching down the field and connecting with Jason Witten in the red zone, closing the deficit to 17-13 by halftime.
With Las Vegas receiving the ball in the second half, Derek Carr and the Raiders offense continued the momentum from their two-minute offense, moving the ball downfield and keeping the Bills defense on the ropes. But the narrative from the first half continued on, as Las Vegas could only muster a field goal as a result. With Buffalo’s offense back on the field, Josh Allen was in rhythm once again, converting a quarterback sneak at the goal line and putting the Bills up 23-16 to begin the fourth quarter.
It was in the fourth quarter when the Buffalo Bills built a comfortable lead, with their offense capitalizing on the Raiders’ offense becoming stagnant. A Josh Norman forced fumble at the expense of Darren Waller allowed the Bills to take advantage, resulting in a Devin Singletary rushing touchdown to build the lead to 30-16. A late Derek Carr touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor cut the lead to a single score, but Buffalo held on for the 30-23 win.
Blunders by the Raiders allowing the Bills to capitalize was the story of the loss on Sunday, as the Raiders now look toward another difficult matchup next week in Kansas City.