Raiders issues started long before November

Back successful September erstwhile the grounds was cleanable and things were looking up and the playoffs felt similar a realistic goal, a quiescent consciousness of trepidation lingered successful the Raiders’ Henderson headquarters.

“We started 3-0, but astatine the aforesaid time, we enactment a batch of atrocious shot connected tape,” choky extremity Foster Moreau said.

In 2 of the 3 wins, dilatory violative starts resulted successful the Raiders falling down by treble digits that required large comebacks to overcome. In spite of a 140-yard rushing effort against the Miami Dolphins, the tally crippled was averaging conscionable 91.3 yards per crippled and 3.3 yards per carry.

Meanwhile, backmost Derek Carr was sacked 8 times down an violative enactment that besides was incapable to unfastened holes for its moving backs. The violative enactment was truthful atrocious that the Raiders would soon marque the drastic determination to determination rookie close tackle Alex Leatherwood to close defender and insert Brandon Parker astatine close tackle.

Finally, the 7.7 penalties the Raiders were averaging were the fifth-most successful the NFL.

Winning, arsenic they say, is the champion deodorant. But the Raiders were increasing much and much acrophobic their occurrence wasn’t sustainable if they didn’t cleanable immoderate things up.

“Inside the gathering we were looking astatine those things and saying, man, we person to bash these things amended oregon it’s gonna travel up and get us,” backmost Derek Carr said.

The time of reckoning occurred 3 weeks agone successful a listless nonaccomplishment to the beatable New York Giants. What followed were 2 blowout losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals.

In those games, the Raiders, who were not capable to tally the ball, failed to person connected 3rd downs, fell down and over-extended their defense.

They besides haven’t helped themselves with penalties, a fistful of which either sabotaged violative drives oregon extended drives of their opponents. That includes the 3 infractions the Raiders committed connected Sunday against the Bengals connected would-be third-down stops.

Rather than getting the Bengals disconnected the field, the Raiders talented them a caller acceptable of downs that yet led to 16 points.

“We telephone them foolish due to the fact that that’s precisely what it is,” linebacker Cory Littleton said of the careless penalties. “We’re shooting ourselves successful the ft and putting ourselves successful harder situations, and these offenses that we’ve been playing person been capitalizing disconnected of that.”

In galore ways their existent difficulties are an hold of the aforesaid issues the Raiders dealt with earlier this season. Back past they overcame them. But present those aforesaid flaws are overpowering them.

“We had immoderate things going successful those games that we’re not getting distant with,” Carr said.

Where the Raiders erstwhile stood 3-0 and 5-2 and astatine the apical of the AFC West, they present beryllium 5-5 and request a minimum of 5 to six wins implicit their 7 remaining games to person a changeable astatine the playoffs.

That propulsion starts connected Thanksgiving Day against the Dallas Cowboys.

All of which seems moot if the Raiders can’t hole their biggest problems. It starts with moving the shot amended and being much businesslike and poised successful cardinal situations. They person been talking astir it each year. But they are moving retired of clip to bash thing astir it.

“We judge that we tin marque those changes,” Carr said. “Now we person to spell bash it. It’s the quality betwixt conscionable believing it and really doing it. We person to beryllium it.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore astatine vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore connected Twitter.