LAS VEGAS, Nev.—For the second time in three weeks, the Raiders faced a Super Bowl favorite team at Allegiant Stadium, and for the second time in three weeks, the team overachieved, despite a roster level far inferior to the team they were facing; they had no one to blame for the loss but themselves.
The Raiders (3-3) fell 33-30 to the Buffalo Bills (5-1), and despite a valiant performance in the midst of a Raiders rebuilding season, they beat themselves.
Everything we told you had to happen for the Raiders to win did, except the score.
I told you they had to score 30 points; they did.
I told you they had to hold Josh Allen to less than 50 yards rushing; they did: one.
I also told you that for them to win, they were not good enough to beat the Bills and themselves; I was right about that.
The Raiders are watching film together today, licking their wounds from a series of self-inflicted wounds that cost them the upset.
The NFL is not a league of moral victories. Klint Kubiak shone last week, and he made it clear after the game what he thinks of moral victories.
"I just want to say very disappointed. Very disappointed that we didn't get it done today. Credit to Buffalo; they played a great game. As a team, we did not close the game, and there's plenty of improvement. But we are not satisfied with any moral victories, and we're a 3-3 football team with everything ahead of us.”
Winners and Losers
While we agree there are no moral victories in the NFL, there are tremendous efforts and signs of progress for a rebuilding team, like last night.
So, as always, I present this week’s winners and losers.
No Quit
The Raiders were embarrassed last week in New England. I told you all week I didn’t expect the Raiders to win, but I also didn’t expect them to be embarrassed. They weren’t tonight. I told Kubiak there are no moral victories in the NFL, but I asked if he could appreciate how they responded. The level-headed first-year head coach could, and did.
"Yeah, that's the expectation. We have really talented players and that was the expectation to bounce back. That's the type of football that we need to play, but we got to do it for four quarters. We've got to get the ball in the red zone. We're 2-for-5 in the red zone, and that's unacceptable. And that starts with me."
QB Kirk Cousins isn’t willing to rest on the team overachieving and being 3-3 right now.
“But it's a week-to-week league, and so you just feel like no matter what has happened, what has transpired, 0-6, 6-0, or somewhere in between, you've got to come back and do it again. And your next opponent doesn't really care what happened the previous six weeks. So, they are each their own stages. You get to the end of 17 and you settle them up, but they really are their own stages, and we've got to treat it that way and be absolute pros each time we step between the white lines."
In fact, the red zone issues Kubiak referred to were big in Cousins' mind as well. They should have been on everyone's mind, since that inefficiency cost the Raiders the win with that one stat. Cousins addressed it.
"Those are the things we'll be talking about tomorrow, and then honestly the other several possessions run together right now. But anytime you leave points on the board in the red zone, it's hard."
Rushing/Passing Balance
The Raiders threw for 313 yards but ran for only 65. Despite the horrific imbalance, Kubiak found a reason to be encouraged.
"Yeah, honestly, I am encouraged that I thought the run game was better. Has not been good enough. At the end of the game, once a game like that, you've got to play to your strengths. So, that was what we did."
He added about the leading rusher Mike Washington Jr., "Yeah, he gave us a spark. He did some good stuff. He's been practicing well, had some good runs for us, and between him and Dylan [Laube] and Ashton [Jeanty], we're going to play all those guys."
Penalties
After starting the first three games of the season with very few penalties, the last three games have been epidemic, including seven against the Bills, which were devastating. Kubiak shouldered all the blame.
"Yeah, I got to go look at everyone individually, but seven penalties is seven too many."
The worst was the third (and only one today) false start by center Tyler Linderbaum. Something that sparked the head man's ire.
"It's happened three times, and it's killing us, absolutely killing us, and I have not fixed it. So, shame on me. It's on me to get it fixed."
Slow Starts After Halftime
The Raiders had all the momentum after tying the game at the end of the first half. After getting the ball to start the second half, they had a chance to really take off. Instead, they came out flat and fell on their face. Something Kubiak identified and was less than appreciative of.
"I'm really upset with how we're starting the third quarter. Go three and out. That's disappointing. Every game has adversity. The game's not over in the third quarter when you go three and out, but it really kills more than that."
Cousins chimed in on the third quarter woes as well.
"That was another one of those moments where I don't know what's going on. The refs are just suddenly walking the ball further and further down the field, and I'm getting the next play call, and I'm like, 'Okay, I know it's going to be first and 10, much closer than I thought it was going to be,' but I don't have time or energy to ask, 'Why is that?' So, I don't know what happened. I just know we got much better field position, and that was really all I had time to think about."
Kirk Cousins
Cousins had one bad play, an interception, but considering he was 23-for-41 for the aforementioned 313 yards with two touchdowns, Kubiak was thrilled with his QB.
"Gritty, gutty, just the same guy you guys have seen all season. He's playing superb football right now."
Biggest Takeaways After Six Games?
Kubiak wasted no time talking about what his team needs to learn.
"Close games out."
QB Kirk Cousins agrees with his head coach and friend.
"Yeah, there's no doubt that, that's what it is. We got to find ways to close. You got to find the inches in the fourth quarter. You can't go out in second to last possession and have three incompletions. You can't in the third quarter throw an interception that gives them a short field and they get a touchdown off of it. You can't go two for five in the red zone.”
A frustrated Cousins wasn’t done.
“You know third and goal, we got to come away with those four point plays and get the touchdown, not the kick in the field goal. Those are all the plays throughout the game that you look back on and you say, it didn't give us a chance to win. And it's just about making plays. You got to make plays and be smart and manage the game well. And if you do that, you'd like to think that you give yourself a chance to close it out in the fourth quarter."
How To Fix the Mistakes
Cousins has seen a lot in his career and is the unquestioned leader of the offense. He talked about how the Raiders can snap the losing streak.
"All I know to do is go back to work to have candid conversations on Monday that make us better as a football team. To have your process, your habits that get you ready to play well, and then to go through that process to not change anything when you're winning, to not change too much when you're losing."
"I think the only part you change is when you go back and see where we got to be better, and you emphasize that during the week. But we just got to go back to work and just put the work in and expect that if you do that, that the breaks will fly your way."
Cousins-Tre Tucker Connection?
Cousins and Tucker’s chemistry is growing. Each week, Cousins is learning to trust him to get the football, and the Michigan State Spartan praised his wide receiver.
"I mean, it was a great catch by him on the first one. Great design by our coaches to get him in that position where he's open like that. The second one, he just can roll. I played with DeSean Jackson, I play with Aldrick Robinson, so I played with 4.2 guys; he can roll. And I came off the field, I said, 'I think he's faster than I realize he is.'”
Cousins praised, continuing, “And there's times where I just need to launch, and he'll go get it. So, he showed me that again today, and big time the way he finished it to go for it and hold on just starts to build trust and respect when a guy goes and makes a play like that."
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