Fumbled The Bag: Raiders Cough Up Late Lead, Fall In OT

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Every Sunday in the NFL, teams win or lose. Yet, for the Las Vegas Raiders, this loss feels especially painful, considering the missed opportunities.

To the credit, the Raiders find new and exciting ways to lose. Today, they dropped a heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals, 29-23. The loss drops Las Vegas to 0-2 on the season, extinguishing any early hope for a fast start. While fifteen games remain, that number continues to decline with each and every disappointing outing.

Make It Make Sense

For an offense that stacked twenty points in the first half, the Raiders seemingly fell asleep. In scoring just three points in the second half, the Raiders’ offense allowed the Cardinals to chip away at the lead. Arizona just hung around, showing little to no sense of desperation. In fact, they marched down the field, converting two clutch two-point conversions. Offensively, in the second half, the Raiders looked like they became complacent and completely fine with taking the conservative route. Playing not to lose, instead of to win, usually ends up the opposite way. Derek Carr’s 6.5 yards per attempt screams passivity.

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Pass Rush Dissipates

During the first half, the Raiders harassed Kyler Murray, preventing him from executing. Yet, in the second half, Murray moved with a sense of composure, undeterred by much pressure. With an offensive line that entered with question marks, Arizona only surrendered one sack and five quarterback hits. For as much hype as the preseason caused, the pass rush actually appears worse than a year ago.

Pattern Formation

For the Arizona Cardinals, after Hunter Renfrow fumbled the first time, the immediate plan looked to recreate the same action. Renfrow, known as a fumbler, put the ball on the ground twice. Unfortunately, the last turnover led to Byron Murphy scooping and scoring the walk-off touchdown. Now, teams will attempt to duplicate this with Renfrow. Anyone who understands that Renfrow, for good or bad, now possesses a target around the ball. After 2021 which featured five fumbles, starting off 2022 with three fumbles in two games does not bode well.

Overall Meaning

In all honesty, history is not with the Raiders. According to CBS Sports, of the 265 teams that started 0-2 since 1990, only 11.3 percent made the playoffs. The next few weeks with this franchise will dictate the rest of the season. Either the Raiders can pull out of this funk or they will find themselves on the outside looking in.