Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders-Cardinals game where the Raiders' struggles continue and couldn't find a way to upset the Cardinals as former Raiders, Carson Palmer, Jared Veldheer, and Tommy Kelly come back in a Cardinal uniform and beat the Raiders 24-13.
0-6, the Jaguars got their first win of the season today, 0-11 against NFC opponents, you can't ask for an even more embarrassing start as the Raiders become the only winless team this season. I wasn't into this game at all. The only bright spots, Woodson's interception and Derek Carr's throw to Brice Butler to put the Raiders in the red zone woke me up, but I couldn't find any way to get into this game after those highlights.
The Positives
Charles Woodson, 7 tackles, 1 INT. Charles Woodson is like fine wine, he gets better when he ages. He had a injury scare during the early 2nd half when he made tried to make a play against Arizona's run play, but other than that, as bad as the defense has been this season, Woodson has been one of the constants this season on the defensive side. It's sad to see him that he's one of the only Raiders on defense making plays, especially when his great career is winding down to an end.
Khalil Mack, 11 tackles. Mack still has yet to get a sack in his rookie career, but this was his best game yet as the Raiders' 5th overall pick. Mack was disciplined and to quote Madden in an old Madden game, Mack "stayed at home and wait for the runner to come at him." The Cardinals tried to pull off an misdirection play on an end-around to a receiver and Mack didn't bite and manage to tackle the receiver for a loss. Mack played a great all-around game, he even got his cleat tangled to Carson Palmer's cleat, I got a slight chuckle out of that. Like I said with Woodson, as bad as the defense was, Mack is also a bright spot on that side of the ball and that's what you expect out of the 5th overall pick.
The Negatives
The offense. 4 TDs against a good Chargers team, but this game, they only managed a whopping 1 TD and they couldn't gain any momentum after putting together a solid drive that resulted in a Darren McFadden TD. Derek Carr was getting pressured, the running game was being stuffed, and receivers were dropping passes. You don't like it when the offense follows up with a dud after a spectacular showing last game.
Penalties. We're partying like it's 2011 when the Raiders lead the league in penalties and actually broke the record as the most penalized team in the history of the NFL. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of penalties that were questionable, there were a lot of questionable PI and illegal contact calls. I was especially livid on that roughing the passer call on Sio Moore, I thought that shouldn't have been a penalty and it costed the Raiders a solid 3 & out on defense, Penalties definitely killed us, but the offense's lackluster showing ultimately put the game away for the Raiders.
Conclusion
So, the Raiders can't beat the Jets, they're 1-6, can't beat the Texans, can't beat the Patriots, can't beat the Dolphins, despite the fact they went to London early, can't beat the Chargers, they just loss to the Chiefs today, now they didn't beat the Cardinals? It is frustrating because looking at the rest of the schedule, you don't know what teams can the Raiders beat. Next week, the Raiders take on the Browns in Cleveland, they lost to the Jaguars, but the Browns are still a tough team, especially when they're playing at home. It's no longer of getting that first win, it's a matter of what team can the Raiders beat as the schedule gets rougher. Any given Sunday, but as a Raider fan, it feels like that phrase doesn't apply to us because even we can make the bad teams look good. We'll see what happens next week, I'll see you guys for that game.
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