Just about everything that could have gone wrong went wrong in the Raiders’ Week 12 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. They looked flat on offense, had several back-breaking penalties on defense and the whole team just couldn’t stay out of their own way.
After back-to-back losses, it’s fair to wonder if the Raiders are worthy of a playoff spot. Their inconsistencies from week to week and their tendency to rack up penalty yardage.
In the recent power rankings by Doug Farrar of the Touchdown Wire, the Raiders came in at No. 14, sliding down two spots from last week. Here is a snippet of what Farrar had to say about their performance on Sunday:
“There is little positive to find in this game from a Raiders’ perspective. Derek Carr was a turnover machine, putting the ball on the turf twice on strip-sacks and throwing a brutal Pick Six that broke the game open. Sure, there was an early connection to rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs III in the downfield passing game to convert a fourth down, but that was perhaps the sole bright spot on an embarrassing afternoon.”
The Raiders will take on the Jets in Week 13 and that game is suddenly turning into a must-win contest if they want to stay in the playoff hunt in the AFC. A convincing and dominating win might be enough to earn back some of the trust they lost last week while playing against Atlanta.
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