The Raiders were feeling themselves after three straight wins, but “Thursday Night Football” was Baker Mayfield’s show.
Just days after he was waived by the Carolina Panthers, the fifth-year quarterback came in and led the Los Angeles Rams to a comeback win after they were down by 13 points in the fourth quarter. It was a historic victory on both sides of the field.
For the Raiders, they became the first team since 1930 to loss their fourth game after being up by double digits. Seven of Las Vegas’ eight losses are by one score. Josh McDaniels’ squad was on the bubble of the AFC playoff picture, but after the loss, the Raiders fell to 5-8, all but ending their postseason hopes.
“I don’t look at it as a step back,” McDaniels told reporters, per team-provided video. “I mean, we didn’t finish the game. That’s the reality. I thought we were ready to play. I thought we competed. We got off to a decent start, and then we didn’t capitalize. The bottom line is that until we figure out how to stop losing games with mistakes that we do ourselves, then it makes it very difficult to win. You can’t really win until you stop from losing, and that’s penalties, turnovers — things like that that contribute to that. We’ve talked a lot about that, just need to do a better job of coaching it, trying to get us to play better.”
It’s not the first time McDaniels has invoked the idea of his team learning how to win or learning how to not lose. It has been a talking point the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator has brought up after multiple one-score losses, and the question from many fans is when Las Vegas will actually learn from its losses.
“Obviously, it sucks,” Maxx Crosby told reporters, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “I just feel bad for the fans.”
The season has been an emotional toll for quarterback Derek Carr, who the Raiders could potentially cut and save money on before his three-year, $121.5 million contract kicks in. The ninth-year quarterback was 11-of-20 passing for 127 yards and two interceptions Thursday, and with owner Mark Davis backing McDaniels during the season, it’s a question if Las Vegas could be looking at a new answer at the QB position.
