Where do the 2022 Las Vegas Raiders go from here?
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders were trounced by the New Orleans Saints in Week 8, and you have to ask yourself, where do the Silver and Black go from here?
As the clock struck 0:00 on the terrible loss to the New Orleans Saints, fans of the Las Vegas Raiders had to ask themselves if the 2022 season is over. All over Twitter, Raider Nation had it with this team, from the head coach to the quarterback, something you never want to see after only eight weeks.
However, the question must be asked after the 24-0 loss, a game that saw the offense not make it to Saints territory until the fourth quarter, and with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback. Can the Silver and Black salvage this season, or is it already time to start looking ahead, possibly at some huge changes this offseason.
The truth is, the NFL is all kinds of crazy this season, as we see incredible upset victories every weekend, and divisional races are still up for grabs. Las Vegas is not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but if they play the way they did on Sunday in New Orleans the rest of the way, they might as well start toward the future.
Raiders must take advantage of a soft schedule
It is hard to figure out what the rest of the 2022 season will look like for the Raiders, as they looked so bad this past Sunday after a strong win against Houston the week before. This was supposed to be the time in the schedule where they get right, but after seeing Seattle win again, and the Denver Broncos get a W in London, are their easy games remaining?
Sure, they should beat the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, but are those guaranteed wins after what we saw on Sunday?
The truth is, we have seen this franchise play down to their competition way too many times, as there is no reason you should be able to lose to Kansas City by one on the road, and then a few weeks later not even get into plus-territory with your starting quarterback under center. Las Vegas is in a dangerous spot right now, because a top-5 pick is on the horizon if they continue to play this way, and that could start another rebuild in the desert.
The only thing Las Vegas can do is look to their next opponent, and it is another winnable game against a team that just played across the pond in the Jaguars. Sure, Jacksonville is awful, but if the Raiders play the way they did on Sunday, where is the soft spot in the schedule?
Time will tell what this Raiders season could end up looking like, but Sunday, they were a lifeless team that has way more questions than answers going into game No. 8.