Week 9's game against the San Francisco 49ers was a chance for the Las Vegas Raiders to not only establish themselves as a legitimate team in the NFL landscape and string wins together before the trade deadline, but also to earn some pride and distinction in a heated geographic rivalry game.
But the Silver and Black did nothing of the sort, as they beat themselves and were ultimately toppled by the 49ers as well, losing 38-17. While this game was a bit closer than the scoreboard indicates, there are no moral victories in this league. And even if there are, this was certainly not one of them.
Sunday's contest was one in which you just stared at your TV in disbelief. The things that unfolded in the matchup were simply unbelievable on all fronts, but there was no payoff for what seemed like an evil magic trick or form of witchcraft. It was just a brutal, emptying loss for the Raiders and their fans.
As we try to make sense of it and figure out where to go from here, let's go through some positives and negatives from Las Vegas' recent defeat. Heavy on the latter.
Positives and even more negatives from Raiders' brutal loss to 49ers
Negative: Ball security
When you give the ball away five times, you just aren't going to win games. Ever.
Kirk Cousins kicked off the second half with a fumble and a pick-six on the same play. Brock Bowers fumbled deep in 49ers territory when the team was moving the ball. Michael Mayer also fumbled right at the goal line. Cousins put the cherry on top with two more fourth-quarter interceptions. It was ugly.
No; it was hideous.
Negative: Rob Leonard and the defense
To give up 31 points is one thing. To get walked down on every possession and have zero answers for the sixth straight week is another. This unit is downright lost and doesn't do anything particularly well or average. They can't tackle, get after the quarterback, stop the run or cover on the back end.
If it weren't for great individual efforts to force turnovers, this group would have nothing to show for what they do during the week. The scheme is not working, as players aren't being put in positions to succeed. The hot seat is scorching for Leonard after this one, and in the wake of five similar games.
Positive: Brock Bowers is one of the NFL's best players
Bowers is not one of the best tight ends or pass-catchers in the NFL. He is one of the league's best players. Even on a day that he proved to be human with a fumble, he still racked up seven catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Bowers is a matchup nightmare, even for a Super Bowl-level defense.
Negative: Kirk Cousins
Cousins left a lot of yards out there, and a pick-six to start the second half was simply deflating. He is a veteran quarterback who should know better than that. And he tacked on two more interceptions, one in which he threw an ill-advised jump ball to 5-foot-9 Tre Tucker, and another that was just erratic.
He may not be the main issue with this team, but at this juncture, it feels like a waste not to have Fernando Mendoza in the game. It's time.
Negative: Klint Kubiak
For the first time this season, I came out of the game a bit irked with Kubiak. The trend of him burning timeouts early in the half needs to stop, and he has to find a better process for challenging calls. He missed a big opportunity to potentially get a call overturned that would have gave them a touchdown.
Of course, Cousins ended up throwing a pick in the aftermath of that decision.
Some of his play-calling was a bit questionable on Sunday, too, as he got a bit cute in San Francisco territory. And Jeanty needs to be involved as a pass-catcher in a much different way than he was in Week 9. He's not playing a very good hand, but Kubiak is a much better bluffer than he showed.
Positive: Treydan Stukes continues to shine
Stukes had a great interception of Brock Purdy, which was certainly the highlight of his day, but not the only good moment. He made several nice tackles in the run game and was a factor on the back end even when it wasn't thrown his way. Stukes has been a bright spot for a struggling defense.
Negative: Run defense
How many weeks in a row has this been on the negatives list?
The Raiders gave up 94 rushing yards in the first quarter. All told, the damage was only 190 yards, which somehow feels like a consolation after the way the opening stanza went. They didn't miss a crazy amount of tackles, either; this unit is just way out of position or being pushed out of the play.
Negative: Zeke Masses
Masses gave up a big touchdown to Jordan Watkins after the Mayer fumble, which effectively put this game out of reach. It wasn't bad coverage, but Masses got beat badly at the catch point. Jermod McCoy played twice as many snaps as Masses, out-snapping him for the second straight week.
That's a bad trend.
Positive: Nakobe Dean is a savage
To be fair, it's easy to rack up tackles when the other team is lining up and running it at you, but Dean was at least bringing people down. The veteran linebacker logged 18 tackles in the game, 7 of which were solo, and he had a tackle for loss while also playing well in coverage, forcing 2 incompletions.
Negative: Run game
It feels appropriate to end with a negative.
In what is another weekly staple in this piece, the Raiders' run game never got off the ground again. Ashton Jeanty looked good, for what it's worth, but Las Vegas managed just 24 yards on 15 carries, making it their worst performance of the season. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse...
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