In a game that brought back memories of Thursday night games from seasons ago, the Las Vegas Raiders lost 10-7 to the Denver Broncos in Week 10. As has been the case in many games this year, a litany of mistakes plagued the Silver and Black, and they just couldn't do enough offensively.
Things started fine enough, with two eight-play drives and a touchdown from Ashton Jeanty to end the second drive. On their first 10 rushing attempts, the Raiders had 47 yards, mostly from Jeanty, but with a Geno Smith scramble and a run by wide receiver Tre Tucker mixed in.
But during a sack that ended the Raiders' third offensive series, right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson suffered an ankle injury that's going to sideline him for a while. A bit later, left guard Dylan Parham also suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game.
After Powers-Johnson left the game, the Raiders had 27 rushing yards on 15 attempts. Alex Cappa again showed everyone, other than Pete Carroll, that his best days are behind him. An offensive line without Kolton Miller losing both starting guards was bound to cause some struggles.
Pete Carroll continues to defy logic with Raiders' offensive line deployment
When Powers-Johnson left the game, Cappa was the obvious replacement, and he will likely start at right guard for however long is necessary. The replacement for Parham when he exited the game was less clear-cut, and it was revealed to be second-year man Will Putnam.
Putnam replaced Parham when he was injured last week, and in fairness to him, he was the only viable option due to rookie third-round offensive lineman Caleb Rogers being a healthy scratch for the ninth time in as many games.
Having Putnam play left guard is a bit confusing, as before his two snaps against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had not played left guard since his true freshman season at Clemson. Putnam has played right guard, but Cappa is seemingly pigeonholed into that spot.
RELATED: Geno Smith said what every Raiders fan was thinking about Jakobi Meyers
Center Jordan Meredith had success at left guard last season as well. Chip Kelly has praised Meredith for his intangible work in the middle with protection calls and such, but he seems overmatched based on the eye test, and he ranks No. 24 out of 34 qualified centers by overall Pro Football Focus grade.
Last season, albeit in an injury-shortened campaign, Meredith was PFF's eighth-highest graded guard with six of his nine starts coming on the left side. But rather than keep him there, the new coaching staff moved him to center.
They also moved Parham from right to left guard and made Powers-Johnson compete into the season with the inferior Cappa at right guard. Rogers is a developmental prospect, which does not align with Carroll's attempted "win-now" priority this season and explains why he has yet to be active for a game.
But with the team now at 2-7 and Powers-Johnson out, maybe Rogers can a least get a chance to be in uniform for games over the rest of the season. And if he ends up playing some, with some guard-tackle versatility in his pocket, that'll be just fine.