Instant Analysis: Raiders are a mess in 30-23 loss to Buffalo

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020 | 4:45 p.m.

The 2020 Las Vegas Raiders are not a perfect team, as there are major deficiencies on both sides of the ball. But if we’ve learned anything about them through four weeks, it’s that the team is good enough to compete on a weekly basis — if they play near-perfect football.

That was not the case on Sunday, when the Raiders repeatedly messed up on the field and on the sidelines in a 30-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Las Vegas’ 2-0 start has now been erased, and at 2-2 the Raiders are looking at a daunting path to the playoffs over the final three-quarters of the season.

A look at Sunday’s defeat:

Raiders make it easy for Allen

Josh Allen has established himself as one of the most dangerous scrambling quarterbacks in the game, but that wasn’t an issue against the Raiders. The Las Vegas defense “solved” that problem by not putting any pressure at all on Allen, thus giving him no reason to vacate the pocket.

Of course, that was not by design. The Raiders simply lack pass-rushing talent in the front seven, and that was wildly evident on Sunday, as Allen dropped back 34 times and was only sacked once.

For the entirety of the game, the third-year QB was allowed to stand in a vast pocket and scan the field at his leisure; Allen ended up completing 24-of-34 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns.

The pass rush is both a talent issue and a coaching issue. The Raiders lack the kind of players who can generate consistent pressure from a four-man front, and the coaching staff (led by defensive coordinator Paul Guenther) is hesitant to blitz, probably because the secondary is so inexperienced. It’s a big problem, especially in today’s pass-happy NFL, and there appear to be no easy answers for the Raiders.

When Las Vegas finally did get to Allen and sack him, it was on a 3^rd-and-18 in the fourth quarter, as Allen deliberately held the ball waiting for a big play to develop. And even then, it took forever for the Raiders defense to converge.

Conservative calls

Jon Gruden must have spent his eight years in the broadcast booth drawing up punt plays, because he sure loves calling them.

On the Raiders first drive (already trailing, 7-0, thanks to the porous defense), Las Vegas faced a 3^rd-and-1 from the Buffalo 36. Gruden called the most conservative play in the book, a fullback dive, and watched it get stuffed for a 1-yard loss. On 4^th-and-2, Gruden sent out the field-goal unit.

The kick was good, but points may have been left on the board — and that’s not an option for the Raiders. By the time Derek Carr got his hands on the ball again, the defense had allowed another easy touchdown drive and the Raiders trailed 14-3.

Gruden had a chance to atone on the opening possession of the second half. The Raiders drove for a touchdown to end the first half, then received the kickoff to start the third quarter and drove the length of the field again. With all momentum on their side and facing a very pick-up-able 4^th-and-2 at the Buffalo 7-yard line, Gruden once more sent out the field goal team. Another four points the Raiders did not even try for.

By the time Gruden was forced to go for it — facing a 4^th-and-1 from their own 34 with 9:50 left in the game — the Raiders trailed, 30-16, and were in desperation mode. Carr handed off to Josh Jacobs, and he was stopped for no gain.

Gruden is conservative by nature, and perhaps that’s the right way to play it in the long run, considering how young this Raiders team is. But on a week-to-week basis, Gruden is going to have to take some risks on offense in order to protect (and cover for) the shoddy defense.

Too many mistakes

The Raiders generally played mistake-free football through the first three weeks and even came into Sunday ranked fifth in penalty yardage against, as they were being called for just 31.0 yards worth of penalties per game. That didn’t hold against the Bills, as Las Vegas hurt itself over and over again with mental errors.

In the first half, Carr connected on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor only to see the play wiped out by an illegal formation.

On the previous Buffalo drive, rookie cornerback Amik Robertson (making his debut) was burned for a 26-yard touchdown by Gabriel Davis to give the Bills a quick 7-0 lead.

Trailing by 14 in the fourth quarter and driving to potentially make it a one-score game, Raiders running back Jalen Richard lost a fumble at the Buffalo 33-yard line.

Throw seven penalties for 66 yards on top of that, and it was an ugly day for a team that had played relatively clean for the first three games of the season. Some of the sloppiness can be attributed to the number of injuries the team is currently dealing with, but the NFL doesn’t accept excuses.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.