Raiders look beyond repair after worst-ever loss in Las Vegas

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Less than three months ago, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels basked in what he called “the best atmosphere” he had ever experienced in the preseason for his coaching debut at Allegiant Stadium. McDaniels took in all the raucous celebration he could as he slowly headed to the home locker room after a victory.

On Sunday, the first-year coach witnessed the flip side of the Raider fan base’s infamous passion. McDaniels jogged off the field at Las Vegas’ $2 billion stadium following a 25-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Raiders’ third straight upset defeat, underneath a deafening chorus of boos caving in on him.  

“They want better than this and I get it,” McDaniels said in his postgame news conference minutes later. “They have a right to feel frustrated with the results we’ve provided this year.”

Or, perhaps, “lack of results” would have been a better way to characterize it as Las Vegas fell to 2-7 on the year, the second-worst record in the NFL. The Raiders’ season, one that was arguably the franchise’s most anticipated in 20 years, is now unequivocally done just as it hits the midway point.

Mathematically, Las Vegas may still have a microscopic chance of reaching the postseason for the second straight season, but it would almost surely require winning all of its remaining eight games. There’s no way a team that’s played like the Raiders have the last three weeks could expect a win streak a half, or even a quarter, that long.

Las Vegas no-showed in a 24-0 Week 8 loss at New Orleans. It then couldn’t hold a three-score lead in a 27-20 Week 9 setback at Jacksonville. The Week 10 defeat to Indianapolis had elements of both previous losses — i.e. the general listlessness of the first and the inability to play from ahead from the second  — but felt worse given the circumstances.

The Colts fired their longtime coach, Frank Reich, earlier in the week and hired former All-Pro center Jeff Saturday, who had never headed a team higher than the high school level, in an interim capacity. As his offensive coordinator, Saturday promoted assistant quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier, who had never called plays at any level of football before.

With pressure bearing down on McDaniels and the Raiders to demonstrate some sort of progress and a seemingly soft opponent to do it against, they showed the opposite.

Instead, they added another chapter to the Raiders’ lengthy book of failures in the two decades since they last won a playoff game. This was likely their most inexcusable loss since moving to Las Vegas three years ago.

A 26-25 Week 16 loss to the Dolphins two years ago that featured a play then-coach Jon Gruden called the most horrific of his career to eliminate the Raiders from the playoffs belongs in the conversation. So too does a 48-9 Week 14 blowout at the Chiefs last year after Las Vegas stomped on the Kansas City midfield logo in the pregame.

But at least those were late-season games with something on the line. This year’s team, a more talented one than the past two on paper, won’t have the luxury of playing in games that meaningful down the stretch.

“Some of the things that a lot of us try to do just to practice, what we put our bodies through just to sleep at night, and for that to be the result of all that effort, that pisses me off,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said through tears in his postgame news conference. “I wish everyone felt the same way about this place and, as a leader, that pisses me off if I’m being honest.”

Carr apologized for continually choking up but said it was “just the emotion of nine years of stuff” hitting him. It’s difficult not to feel for Carr, whose Raider tenure has often seemed cursed, but even harder at this point not to acknowledge that he’s part of the problem.

The Raiders didn’t gain a single first down on their first three offensive possessions as the Colts took a 10-0 lead. They lacked energy, which may fall on McDaniels for not having them ready to play but the quarterback’s ineffectiveness didn’t help matters.

Carr threw five straight incompletions to start the game, and though he eventually got into a better rhythm and finished with 248 yards and two touchdowns on 24-for-38 passing, occasional mistakes persisted. The Colts dropped at least two interceptions in addition to Carr misfiring several times when affected by pressure.

“Josh always preaches, ‘Do the hard things right,’ and I’m not perfect,” Carr said. “I’m never going to be perfect but the love I have for this place and the effort I give will be second-to-none every time.”

The way the Raiders have been constructed under McDaniels and new general manager Dave Ziegler, the offense needs to lead the way for a defense that ranks among the bottom in the league in most categories. That didn’t happen against the Colts; in fact, it was the opposite early on.

Las Vegas showed no ability to move the ball until a takeaway jumpstarted it in the second quarter. Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson stripped Colts wide receiver Keke Coutee and linebacker Jayon Brown fell on the fumble.

Five minutes later, Carr capped the ensuing drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Foster Moreau to make the score 10-7. Indianapolis drove down for a field goal at the end of the first half to go into the locker room with a six-point lead but missed another one to start the second half.

Edge rusher Maxx Crosby had a 14-yard sack on Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, a surprise starter after being benched for the last two games, to make the 48-yard field goal tough on kicker Chase McLaughlin. With early boos turning to cheers among the fans, the Raiders capitalized and took their first lead of the day shortly later at 14-13.

Running back Josh Jacobs — one of the only consistent sparks who had 27 touches for 106 yards on the day — powered in a one-yard touchdown.    

“It’s just about wanting to be the guy to make a play,” wide receiver Davante Adams said. “We don’t have enough guys that are fully bought into that right now. I think people like the idea, but when it’s time to finally execute, it doesn’t turn out that way.”

The defense didn’t make many plays the rest of the way. Less than a minute after Jacobs’ score, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown that featured a systematic breakdown of the Raiders’ defense.

Raiders defensive tackle Andrew Billings was cleared out of the way to create a huge hole when Colts linemen got to the second level and blocked Brown and safety Tre’von Moehrig. Safety Duron Harmon, the last line of defense, appeared to take a poor angle and saw Taylor blow past him.   

“I slipped,” Harmon said in the locker room before cursing to himself under his breath. “That’s something I pride myself on, getting the guy to the ground, being a sure tackler, and I slipped. With a guy like that you can’t slip. You can’t have any wasted movements and he was out the gate.”

Adams spent the last week calling for more opportunities for himself, and lived up his words by being the Raiders’ best player with nine catches for 126 yards. He caught a short pass over the middle from Carr on 3^rd-and-10 midway through the fourth quarter that he took 48 yards for a touchdown to put the Raiders up 20-19.

That made Las Vegas potentially a stop away from its third straight victory at Allegiant, but the defense couldn’t do its part. After holding Taylor to short gains on the first two plays, a three-play sequence that will live infamy followed.

First, the typically immobile Ryan took off for a career-long rush of 39 yards. Then he hit Michael Pittman with a short pass that cornerback Sam Webb stripped out of the receiver’s hands.

But the Raiders didn’t dive for the fumble, allowing Pittman to recover and keep the drive alive. On the next play, Parris Campbell sped out on a slant and beat Robertson, who got no help behind him, for a 48-yard touchdown.

“It was definitely a miscommunication,” Robertson said. ‘We’ve just got to get better at finishing. That’s all I can say.”

Las Vegas got its own chances to finish when Adams and Jacobs helped get it into the red zone at the two-minute warning. But Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke broke up a third-down pass in the end zone that hit Moreau in the hands.

On fourth down, Carr forced a pass to Adams in the corner of the end zone that Colts cornerback Stephon Gilmore deflected. Boos flooded before Carr could even get down on a knee to process the latest defeat.

“It starts with me,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to have to figure out something different to do to get free from some of these close scores, close games or make enough plays at the end of the game to win. I’m going to do everything I can do to try to figure out what we can do better to change the results.”

The question now is if McDaniels will even have the chance. “Fire Josh McDaniels” was trending on social media throughout and after the game.

Two weeks ago, at least from a long-term perspective, he looked safer than Carr — who denied a rift or disconnect with McDaniels after the loss — but no one’s job is safe now. They can’t be after the Raiders continued their downward spiral with their worst dip yet.  

Not too long ago, McDaniels enjoyed what appeared to be his first of many victories in Las Vegas. Now it’s fair to wonder if he’s got any left to look forward to in the future.

“We’re going to keep fighting,” McDaniels said.” There’s no other way. I didn’t see any letdown for them today, and I don’t expect that from our leaders and our group as we go forward. We’re going to continue to fight.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or