The optimism surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders has quickly dissipated, as they are the lone 0-3 team in the NFL through the first three weeks of the regular season. It was the Tennessee Titans who handed the Raiders their most recent loss, as they scraped by Vegas with a 24-22 victory.
The Raiders outscored the Titans 12-0 in the second half, and came a two-point conversion away from tying the game with just over one minute remaining. Nevertheless, the Raiders remain in the loss column. After the game, Raiders star wideout Davante Adams was asked if he was more frustrated or angry with how the 2022 campaign has started.
“Both. Frustrated and angry,” Adams said, via SI.com. “Expect more. It’s not easy to win in this league. We know that. Nobody’s naive to the fact that nobody’s just going to lay down and just give you a victory, but at the end of the day we expect more and we will do better as we move forward.”
Adams caught just five of 10 targets for 36 yards and one touchdown on Sunday — but he has caught a score in all three games as a Raider. There are several contributing factors to the Raiders being winless at this stage. In Week 1, three Vegas turnovers plus an impressive showing from Justin Herbert resulted in a five-point loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. In Week 2, the Raiders allowed 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter from Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, and then coughed up possession in overtime, which led to a scoop-and-score walk-off win.
New Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels has received some heat for how his team has started. He is 1-10 in his last 11 games as a head coach, and hasn’t won a game since Week 10 in 2010. In those last 11 games, McDaniels’ teams have owned a point differential of -92!
The Raiders are a more talented team than what they have showed through three weeks. When Adams was asked Sunday what the message was to the team moving forward, he said it’s about keeping their foot on the gas.
“Stay the course. Keep grinding and doing what we’re doing,” Adams said. “We just need to tweak a few things. I mean, they made a couple more better plays than us today, and this is three games that came down to the wire. You’ve just got to find a better way to start and learn how to finish out some of these games. So, we’ve got to get back to the drawing board, take a look at the film, and see exactly what it was. But that’s basically the overall message, just, we’ve got to have better starts. Come out, can’t be flat early, and put ourselves in a better position. Keep our foot on the gas as we go. Build up a lead early. And if not, we’ve got to come back, and in a situation like this where it’s not ideal but still (have) a chance, still (have) to find a way to win the game.”
