It wasn’t clear to the Raiders’ head coach
The Las Vegas Raiders were ahead 20-0 at halftime, with the game in complete control. Everything changed with the first whistle of the third quarter, and the Raiders lost the half and OT 29-3.
It was the largest blown lead in franchise history with an ugly second half from both sides of the football. The offense went from a dominant 6.8 yards per play to 3.0 yards per play. The defense let Kliff Kingsbury make his best Mike leach impression with wide receiver screens and quick hitches. Add in a few speed options, and it is a loss of 29-23
Throughout the offseason, Josh McDaniels has preached the message of adjustments. While Kingsbury and his group went to the drawing board in the second half, The Raiders were not ready for the few wrinkles the Cardinals added. McDaniels didn’t appear to notice the changes that were made by the opposing team.
“They did a few things differently in the second half. I’d say most teams would do that if they’re trailing at halftime like that. They did a few things differently in the second half, I think. At the end of the day, I think you must learn how to handle success like we had in the first half, and/or failure if that’s you on the other end of the spectrum, if you’re behind.”
The Cardinals made adjustments, but the Raiders didn’t make the correct adjustments. Teams will not play you the same throughout the matchup and create minor tweaks to the game plan during the 60 minutes. Sunday, that was nowhere to be found for the silver and black, and it sent them to 0-2 on the season.
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Raiders blow biggest lead in franchise history: Tashan Reed of the Athletic covers the Raiders’ embarrassing loss.
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