Raiders Opinion: No Time To Dwell

In less than a month, the Las Vegas Raiders have lost their head coach, two former first-round draft picks, and a game to the New York Giants. Each loss, by itself, was believed to be something the team could rally together and get through. Losing Jon Gruden led to the team fully embracing interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, which the team showed was possible. Seeing Henry Ruggs and Damon Arnette released due to horrifyingly brainless actions was certainly a gut punch, especially with Ruggs appearing to establish himself in this Raiders offense, but something that could be overcome.

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Brutal Loss

Somehow, losing to the Giants stoked the most panic. Although the Raiders struggle on the East Coast, particularly in New Jersey, and with the Giants not being particularly intimidating, this felt like a game in which the Raiders should not have much of an issue. Throughout the Raiders 23-16 loss, nothing felt right. Derek Carr threw less than 300 yards for only the third time in eight games and tacked on two interceptions. The redzone offense faltered for what felt like the first time all season and relied on Daniel Carlson to make four field goals from inside the 20-yard line, of which he made three.

Resolve

Las Vegas has obviously battled through significant adversity this season and losing to the Giants simply piled it on. It is difficult to give a playoff-contending team a pass for losses such as these, but in this scenario, it is even more difficult not to. This Raiders team has shown their ability to put the team first through this nauseating rollercoaster of a season but, at some point, enough is enough.

Current Adversity

How the Raiders respond to the added struggle of shrugging off a loss will be immensely telling in regards to the remainder of the season. Should the Raiders topple the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, it will become more believable than the second half of the season could be significantly more bountiful than in recent past.

Big Moment Ahead

All things considered, Sunday night is an incredibly tentative timeslot for a bounceback game. A win over the somewhat-spiraling Chiefs could not only create more space between them in the standings, but could also get the Raiders back on track to attempt to continue playing games at their 5-2 pace. However, a nationally-televised loss to a team that struggled to beat Green Bay without Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams could be crushing.

Proving Ground

The Raiders have had more and more weight added to their proverbial backs and, with the season slowing for no one, it is becoming time to shed the weight or let it crush them. Playoffs are still very much on the table for Las Vegas, but if they continue to let off-the-field drama hold them back, their dream will, once again, go up in smoke in a shockingly minute amount of time.