Raiders full of surprises in their 27-20 loss to the Jaguars
By Jason Willis
![Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dawuane Smoot (91) sacks Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) during the first quarter of a regular season NFL football matchup Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jaguars held off the Las Vegas Raiders 27-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 110622 Raiders Jags Cp 61](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fhttps-3A-2F-2Fjustblogbaby-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fimagn-images-2F2018-2F08-2F19376418-850x560-d86745494d58c7f3ac7b47bb3d9443172016997b29646909ed6777ab8771d6f7.jpg "Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dawuane Smoot (91) sacks Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) during the first quarter of a regular season NFL football matchup Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jaguars held off the Las Vegas Raiders 27-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 110622 Raiders Jags Cp 61")
Raiders full of surprises in their 27-20 loss to the Jaguars
How did they blow another lead?
Currently 2-6 the Raiders have virtually no chance of making the playoffs. A brutal truth for a team that spent loads of money in the off-season in an attempt to build off of a 2021 season where they finished 10-7 and made the playoffs. While this harsh reality is tough to stomach on its own, how they’ve gotten to this point makes matters even worse.
Three times this season the Raiders have had a seventeen-point lead and lost the game. In nearly all of their losses they have had a chance to win the game and truly are just a few plays away from being 6-2.
Alas, you are what your record says you are and Las Vegas is a comprehensively talented team that cannot close out games.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a quick fix for this issue either as there is a myriad of reasons for it. Josh McDaniels, a talented play-caller, takes his foot off the gas in nearly every second half. Derek Carr must carry much of the blame as well. It simply does not seem as if he has the killer instinct he was praised for early on in his career.
On defense, once again the team is atrocious as opposing quarterbacks just do whatever they want.
Couple all of this with the disappearance of Darren Waller, an offensive line that could not block a junior high team, and some regression from Hunter Renfrow, and you have a team that is left wondering where to go next.
The short answer? Who knows. They could opt to blow it all up this off-season and pair a new head coach with a highly drafted quarterback. On the other side of the coin, this is clearly a talented team that is still a good offensive unit. It can be argued that this season is full of tough luck and the Raiders should just run it back.
Regardless of what the team does in the future, this 2022 season is unacceptable on all levels. An abject failure across the board, the loyal members of Raider Nation deserve better than this.