The Las Vegas Raiders seemed to be in control on Thursday night, but when all was said and done, they suffered a terrible loss to a bad Los Angeles Rams team.
On Thursday night, the Las Vegas Raiders took on the Los Angeles Rams on the road, looking for their fourth win in a row. With a win, the Silver and Black would have moved to 6-7 on the season, and with how up-and-down the AFC has been this season, been a legitimate playoff contender.
Well, all of that noise went out the window on Thursday night, as Baker Mayfield, who had about 48 hours to learn enough of Sean McVay’s offense to run it, pulled off a miraculous victory. After struggling all game long, the Rams were able to find the end zone twice in just over three minutes in the fourth quarter, including a remarkable 98-yard drive with no timeouts.
For the Silver and Black, it was another embarrassing loss for them in a season that has been full of those. Here, we look at what went wrong as the Raiders move to 5-8 on the season, and basically eliminate themselves from playoff contention.
We start with No. 1.
Raiders vs Rams 2022 Week 14: What went wrong for Las Vegas
Let the Rams stay in the game
When you play a team missing so many stars, the expectation is that you are going to get the job done, whether it is on the road, or at home. For the Rams, they were without Matthew Stafford, Allen Robinson, Cooper Kupp, and Aaron Donald to name a few, some of the biggest names that dot their roster.
In that scenario, the hope is you can get out to an early lead, then continue to add to it, and pummel them into submission. While Las Vegas got out to the early lead, they then took their foot off the gas, giving the Rams just enough hope that they could get back into it, and in the end, Baker Mayfield turned Thursday night into a nightmare.
The playcalling
The playcalling from Josh McDaniels and his staff was atrocious all night long, whether it be playing timid with the lead, or just calling bonehead plays on third down. They had the right mix of plays on the first drive, their only touchdown drive of the game, but from there, you were left scratching your head at so many play calls throughout the night.
Raiders vs Rams 2022 Week 14: What went wrong for Las Vegas
The Penalties
The Raiders were snakebit by so many bad penalties last night, whether they were called, or not called. On the defensive side, Maxx Crosby was basically held on every play, and it was so blatant that the announcers actually started to see it and comment on it throughout the game.
However, they also had some bad penalties of their own, like Jerry Tillery knocking the ball out of Mayfield’s hands on that final drive, and stopping the clock. There was also Clelin Ferrell jumping offsides on a punt on fourth-and-3, extending the first touchdown drive, and swinging the momentum in the Rams favor.
Derek Carr
Then there is Derek Carr, a quarterback we have long supported at JustBlogBaby, but one that probably had his worst game of his career last season. Carr had been playing at a high level going into this game, but the mistakes were so abundant against the Rams, that it looked like he was the one who only had a few hours to learn the playbook, not Mayfield.
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After nine seasons, and a chance to make a playoff run, you cannot get this kind of performance from your starting quarterback. From errors, to missed throws, and bad decision, No. 4 looked absolutely lost last night, and did so against a Rams defense that he should have absolutely picked apart.