Raiders have lots of questions marks entering offseason

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Tears fell, voices cracked and heads hung as the Raiders filtered in and out of the locker room at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, where their season ended in a 26-19 wild-card round playoff loss to the Bengals.

Four of the team’s captains spoke to the media during the postgame session, and three of them—quarterback Derek Carr, running back Josh Jacobs and defensive end Maxx Crosby—did so emotionally. Tight end Darren Waller, meanwhile, had a more cerebral view of how the Raiders should head into the offseason.

“It starts with reflecting on the season, reflecting on the things that we did well, but also in the process of that, the process of growing, we need to face some things we need to get better at individually and collectively to take that next step,” Waller said.

At the top of the list for necessary improvement, as anyone who has watched the Raiders closely this season can attest, is play along the offensive line. Las Vegas was good enough at every other position group not only to compete in the postseason but to potentially win a playoff game or two for the first time in 19 years.

But the play up front held the Raiders back all season, quite literally so against the Bengals on Saturday. Las Vegas was more efficient than Cincinnati offensively—the Raiders held a 385-308 yardage edge and averaged 0.4 yards more per play—but the deciding factor was that the Bengals finished one more drive with a touchdown.

Fans assigned much of the blame for that to Carr, who has struggled in the red zone all year, and to the referees, who blew an inadvertent whistle that directly led to a Bengals touchdown in the second quarter. But the Raiders had another prime scoring opportunity in the third quarter that was ruined solely by the offensive line.

Las Vegas became the first team in seven years to pick up three holding penalties on the same playoff drive, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The final flag, on left guard John Simpson, wiped out a Jacobs run to the 1-yard line and forced the Raiders to settle for a field goal.

“When three of the holds are on you in one drive, that’s tough,” Carr said. “I love that [officiating] crew, nothing against them. They saw something. I don’t see it. I have my back turned. It sucks for it to be that way.”

All five of the Raiders’ starting offensive linemen picked up a penalty against the Bengals, with rookie right guard Alex Leatherwood flagged twice to move into second place in the NFL with 16 penalties this season.

Penalties were far from the only problem up front for Las Vegas this season. Jacobs rarely had any holes to run through, ranking 22nd among starting running backs in yards before contact during the regular season. Carr was sacked 40 times, fifth-most among NFL quarterbacks.

Leatherwood was graded the third-worst starting guard in the league by Pro Football Focus’ metrics, and Brandon Parker, Leatherwood’s neighbor, was graded the eighth-worst tackle.

Down the stretch of the season, the Raiders’ offensive linemen claimed to have improved. That was true to an extent, but there was nowhere to go but up considering how poorly the unit played for most of the year.

“There’s always room for improvement; just dialing in to technique where it’s important in certain situations when we’ve got to have it is a big thing,” center Andre James said. “That comes with maturity. That comes with reps and experience, really.”

James was advocating for the same group to get another chance to grow next season, but the Raiders can’t afford to go that route. They need to make significant changes.

James and left tackle Kolton Miller, who arguably deserved to make the Pro Bowl, are the only offensive linemen who have proven they can play at a starting-caliber level. Simpson didn’t struggle as much as Leatherwood or Parker, but he also didn’t progress as much in his second year as the Raiders needed.

More high-profile matters will get more attention when it comes to the Raiders’ offseason, including decisions on Carr and interim coach Rich Bisaccia. Compelling cases can be made either way on whether to keep or let go of all those power players.

No matter what decisions the franchise makes elsewhere, it will need better protection up front. Las Vegas dismantled its veteran offensive line last offseason and got younger, a casualty of a shrinking salary cap caused by a season without fans in the stands. That approach to the offensive line was a worthy experiment that ultimately failed.

This offseason, with likely extra money to spend, the Raiders’ priority needs to be rebuilding that unit.

“I think I had 50-something yards come back [to penalties],” Jacobs said as he shook his head after the loss in Cincinnati. “I was kind of frustrated with that.”

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.