Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Instant Analysis: Raiders stunned by chaotic Colts, 25-20

Raiders vs Colts

Wade Vandervort

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) warms up prior to an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts at Allegiant Stadium Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022.

The Raiders hit their low point of the 2022 season on Sunday, falling at home to the woeful Indianapolis Colts, 25-20.

Las Vegas had a chance to steal the game in the final minutes, driving deep in Colts territory with an opportunity to take the lead, but the offense stalled out and Derek Carr’s fourth-down pass to Davante Adams in the end zone was batted away by Stephon Gilmore.

The Raiders are now 2-7 on the season.

How it all went so wrong on Sunday:

Disaster strikes

The Allegiant Stadium faithful rained down boos on the Raiders throughout the entire first quarter as the offense sputtered, and again after the final buzzer, when the reality set in that Las Vegas had somehow found a way to lose to the Colts.

Indianapolis came into the game in complete turmoil. The team fired head coach Frank Reich mid-week and replaced him with former player Jeff Saturday, who had no coaching experience before Sunday. Everything seemed to be lining up for the Raiders to grab a much-needed win at home against an opponent drowning in its own chaos.

Instead, Las Vegas came out inexcusably flat. The Raiders went 3-and-out on their first three possessions and didn’t pick up a first down until the second quarter, at which point Indianapolis had already staked out a 10-0 lead. It was the most morose we’ve seen the Raiders since last year’s Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears, which was Jon Gruden’s “dead man walking” game after his email leak but before his firing (which came days later).

That can’t be a good sign for head coach Josh McDaniels.

What’s up with Carr?

When McDaniels was hired as the Raiders head coach and revamped the team’s offense, a learning curve was expected for quarterback Derek Carr.

But it’s Week 10 now, and Carr doesn’t look any more comfortable in the system than the first time he cracked open the playbook. He missed on his first five passes against Indianapolis, and even some of his completions were wild throws that required his receivers to make ludicrous catches.

Las Vegas didn’t really start moving the ball consistently until late in the first half, when McDaniels seemed to begin calling plays that minimized Carr’s involvement. The game became a series of screens, check-downs and throws to the flat. Game manager stuff. Carr should be beyond that by now.

McDaniels was forced to open up the offense late in the game, and Carr did eventually hit on some big passes. But even Carr’s best play of the game — escaping the pocket and hitting Davante Adams for a 48-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter — came just two snaps after Carr lofted a ball deep into quadruple coverage, practically begging for an interception.

Some of Carr’s struggles could be pinned on injuries, as the Raiders were without key weapons Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, and he finished with a decent enough stat line (24-of-38, 248 yards, two touchdowns), but Carr is clearly not in control of the offense.

Defense can’t come through

Last week the Colts offense was completely shut down, scoring just three points while surrendering nine sacks to the New England Patriots.

That was with backup quarterback Sam Ehlinger under center, and No. 1 QB Matt Ryan returned on Sunday. But the offensive line remained intact, and the same group that got shredded by New England looked positively dominant against the Raiders.

Indianapolis rushed for 207 yards on 6.9 yards per carry, and 39 of those yards came on the Colts’ go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, when Ryan — a virtual statue in the pocket at 37 years old — took off on 3rd-and-long and outraced the entire Las Vegas defense to set up the game-winning score.

As for the pass rush, forget about it. The Raiders scrounged up one single solitary sack, courtesy of Maxx Crosby. The rest of the defense recorded zero sacks and zero hurries.

And that’s how you lose to a dysfunctional team and hit rock bottom.

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

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