Raiders at Steelers 2022 Week 16: Surprises on Christmas Eve

Raiders at Steelers 2022 Week 16: Surprises on Christmas Eve

Davante Adams was non existent

Davante Adams was undoubtedly the biggest splash this offseason for the Raiders and all season he has lived up to what was expected of him and his best friend from college, quarterback Derek Carr. At this point in the season, Adams has amassed almost 1,300 yards and has 12 touchdowns on the year already.

He has six games in which he has gone for 120+ yards, including a week 13 matchup against the Chargers where he went for 177 yards on 8 receptions and two touchdowns.

It seems as if when he has a bad game though, they are really bad. Rarely are they of any fault of his own, as the correlation of his success can be directly compared to the numbers in which Derek Carr targets him and puts him in a position to make a play.

Saturday night’s game was a perfect example of that. Adams had two receptions on nine targets for only 15 yards. It seemed as if his struggles to make anything happen had more to do with the Raiders’ offensive woes and Derek Carr’s accuracy issues than the Steelers’ ability to lock down the recently elected Pro Bowl receiver.

With how cold it was going into this game and Derek Carr’s documented issues in such weather, many thought the rushing attack would be the main focal point of Saturday’s game. On the contrary, the passing attack is what succeeded early on, it just came from the likes of Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller as opposed to one of the league’s most elite players at the wide receiver position.