Las Vegas Raiders lose in Week 1, but what does it all mean?

Las Vegas Raiders lose in Week 1, but what does it all mean?

Derek Carr played poorly, but what does that mean?

The first takeaway is simple – Derek Carr had an underwhelming game. You can slice it up however you want; bad O-line, new coach, whatever. You arrive at the same result no matter what you do.

Derek Carr’s week 1 performance was underwhelming.

That’s first on the takeaways agenda, but what does it all mean?

Absolutely nothing. That’s right, Derek Carr threw three interceptions and did little to escape the six sacks he was a victim of, but it ultimately means nothing. What matters a great deal, though, is how the pair of McDaniels and Carr respond to this loss.

Teams suffer losses all the time. In fact, since the merger, every team has lost at least one regular season contest each season aside from the legendary ’72 Dolphins and ’07 Patriots. These two stand alone as the anomalies here.

Championship teams aren’t defined by winning each and every regular season contest, but rather by how the team can adjust and respond to gloomy situations. Now, we wait to see which tile the Raiders move to in this chess game called the NFL season.

Besides, this is only the first week of the Raiders ’22 campaign. If you want to peek at how insignificant a week 1 loss in the grand scheme of things is, just chat with Davante Adams.

Last year, during the ’21 season, the Green Bay Packers were handed a 3-38 spanking at the hands of Jameis Winston and the Saints. Fast forward to the end of the year, and Green Bay is the no.1 seed in the NFC.

That’s Davante Adams’ experience. Let’s talk about Carr’s experience following a game that can only be defined as a struggle.

To find the last time Derek Carr threw three interceptions in a single game, you’d have to go back to the first week of the 2018 season – four whole calendar years ago. How did Carr respond to that outing heading into week 2? The veteran quarterback recorded 0 turnovers as he completed an outstanding 90.6% of his passes.

Not only did Carr make sure he bounced back the following week, but he managed to throw 325 consecutive passes without logging an interception during that same season. That’s the third-most passes in a row without being picked off in NFL history, trailing only Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.

I’m still not done talking about how Raiders’ personnel have a history of bouncing back.

Look, if there’s one single team in the history of this league that has proven September means virtually nothing, it’s the Patriots, especially under Josh McDaniels. During his second stint in New England, McDaniels finished September with a 2-2 record 4-of-8 times. In three of those four 2-2 September seasons or 75% of the time, the Patriots ended the year with a trip to the Super Bowl.

This is a three-in-one takeaway. Derek Carr played poorly, but a week 1 loss means nothing. The icing on the cake? How the 31-year-old responded after his last three-interception showing.