After a week of dealing with grief and shame, the Las Vegas Raiders’ shaky red-zone performance is put into perspective.
On Sunday, the Raiders were beaten 23-16 by the New York Giants because of all of the above reasons. Is there a connection between the team’s poor offensive performance and the tragic car accident caused by former Las Vegas receiver Henry Ruggs III, which killed a young woman, early Tuesday? Possibly. The National Football League (NFL) places a high value on the capacity to compartmentalize and block out extraneous noise. Derek Carr, though, was aware that it would be a challenge. Even the most well-adjusted and counseled would find it difficult to comprehend how the Raiders, 5-3 after a 3-0 start in September, can now stitch together a season that has already been ravaged by shock and loss.
There is little doubt that the Raiders’ sluggishness on offense, as well as the loss of their big-play game, was caused by the traumatic events that occurred this week and, more particularly, the absence of Ruggs, who had been a crucial component of the explosive gains. There were no difficulties with the players, Rich Bisaccia, interim head coach, stated, and Las Vegas didn’t completely fall on its face in terms of total yards, 403 to 245, as Bisaccia put it. However, the Raiders only scored one touchdown in six trips to the red zone. The No. 2 aerial assault in the league, Vegas’ passing style, was beaten all day long.
As expected, the Raiders were unable to compensate for Ruggs’ absence and could not clear their heads as much as they should have. However, this should not define their season. To say that the Raiders are getting extremely, regrettably, good at dealing with nightmares is not to belittle the tragedy that stole Tina Tintor’s life — or, to a lesser extent, the shock of Jon Gruden’s fast departure after his inflammatory emails were disclosed.
It’s “certainly blown me back a little bit,” tight end Darren Waller admitted. “When Coach Gruden took a chance on my football career, he gave me a chance. In addition to being the quickest person you’ve ever seen on a field, Henry was also a decent person, a respectable person, and an enjoyable person to be around. What a shocker! It’s a little uncomfortable. We can only do our best to go on and keep our minds on the game. There was no request for this, but I feel like we are getting the best practice and training in that area, so you just have to move forward. I’m not complaining.”
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, wide receiver DeSean Jackson has been signed by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in order to achieve this goal. If Jackson is still able to run, he can aid the downfield passing game that was hampered on Sunday. The Raiders may only require that and a little bit of time to recover from the intense emotions of the previous week.
Hunter Renfrow told reporters during his press conference: “Things happen in your lives, and you’re still professional and perform a fantastic job.” “We’re in the same boat. That can’t be allowed to influence us. Regardless of the situation. So, I wouldn’t say it was very time consuming.. We need to improve our performance. Finally, I believe that if we had won today, many of these questions would not have been asked of us.”
Carr is the only reason the Raiders have a chance of escaping their gloom. Throughout the season, he has served as a shining example of what it means to be a leader. Because of Gruden’s extensive involvement in the offense, he should have felt the loss more than any other player. Carr, on the other hand, had a strong first two games sans Gruden, going 80.3 percent for 664 yards and four touchdowns in beating Denver and Philadelphia. During this last week, he was able to perfectly balance his grief and affection for Ruggs as the mascot of the team. In spite of his shaky play on Sunday — he was intercepted twice, lost a critical turnover and missed a wide-open Waller in the end zone at halftime — Carr performed admirably this week when it mattered most. In exchange for the loss of its franchise quarterback, Las Vegas and any other team would gladly make that move.
On Sunday, Carr insisted he had not been thinking about anything else throughout the game, and he even laughed when a reporter described the missed throw to Waller as “lousy.” Carr and the Raiders were desperate to return the season to football after days of focusing on events they could not influence.
It’s because of Carr’s turnovers, he claimed, that we lost.
There is no reason for Las Vegas supporters to be alarmed by this loss, other that the Raiders now have a focal point on which to fix their attention after last week’s setback. They are currently 0-5 after their last five bye weeks, and their explosive beginnings have faded into disappointing finishes in the last two seasons, with no postseason appearances. It’s up to Bisaccia to show the Raiders that the past seasons’ results don’t matter now that Gruden has departed the franchise, after he stabilized things when he left earlier this season.
During practice this week, the Raiders’ players begged each other not to have any more freak incidents this season. Due to a Sunday night game versus the Chiefs, the Raiders have a gift from the scheduling. In this season, focusing on not going on a losing streak will be a pleasant banality rather than a test.