Raiders self-destruct again, eliminated from playoff picture
INDIANAPOLIS — The solemn quiet inside the Raiders’ locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday reflected the finality represented in their 23-20 loss to the Colts.
That would be their playoff hopes, which were officially vanquished, the opportunity to finish the season with a winning record and perhaps even jobs ranging from the head coach to the general manager.
But something even more profound was apparent in the eerie silence. It was the sense of opportunity lost. And not just in the handful of situations they bungled to essentially give away a winnable game.
They botched play calls. The inability to convert in short-yardage situations. The kick-to-the-gut penalties and the errant throws from rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
None of which were isolated to Sunday. In fact, they offered a perfect microcosm for another season gone awry. The fact is, self-inflicted wounds have been a season-long issue for the Raiders, who will look back on the Colts game and many others and fight the urge not to kick themselves for being so careless.
On Sunday, it was the seven penalties, including two critical false starts by right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, their 5-of-15 conversion mark on third down and the curious double-pass trick play they failed to convert in a third-and-1 situation that screamed for a quarterback sneak.
“That’s been the story for us this year,” wide receiver Davante Adams said. “It’s been more about us beating ourselves. Not being able to covert in situations that we should, or having those penalties. Obviously, that makes it a lot harder. It’s definitely frustrating.”
Even more so considering the Raiders (7-9) had done a good job recently of avoiding the type of mental mistakes that have cost them games this season — only for it to rear its ugly head at the least opportune time. The Raiders had zero margin of error, yet they blatantly danced along that line the entire game.
“It’s no excuse. You’ve got to do better,” said Eluemunor, whose second illegal procedure came on a fourth-and-1 from the Colts’ 38-yard line in the first quarter. Rather than a chance at a new set of downs, the Raiders had to punt.
Earlier in the first quarter, Eluemunor was flagged for illegal procedure on a first and 10 at the Colts’ 22-yard line. The Raiders could not cover the 15 yards needed for a first down and settled for a field goal.
Sandwiched around those blunders were Jonathan Taylor’s 5-yard touchdown run and Gardner Minshew’s 58-yard touchdown throw to Alec Pierce to give the Colts (9-7) a 14-3 lead.
In the fourth quarter, with the Raiders trailing 20-13 and trying to get the ball back in the closing minutes, cornerback Jack Jones was flagged for a pass interference penalty that moved the Colts from their 38 to the Raiders’ 36.
On the same drive, Jones was later called for an offside penalty on Matt Gay’s 50-yard field-goal attempt that clanked off the goal post. The penalty gave Gay another chance, which he easily cleared to put the Colts ahead 23-13 with 3:15 left.
Rather than getting the ball with a chance to tie the game, the Raiders faced a 10-point deficit without the benefits of any timeouts.
The painful reality is it all could have been avoided.
“Very difficult when the Raiders play the Raiders,” said interim coach Antonio Pierce, whose team is 4-4 since he took over for Josh McDaniels. “We’ve been pretty good as far as being focused, pre-snap. That it happened today, on both sides of the ball, and it again it kind of cost you in a game that came down to three points.”
O’Connell threw for a career-high 299 yards, 126 of them to Adams with two touchdowns, but he also missed on some easy throws. There was also his blatant miss of wide receiver Tre Tucker streaking wide open down the field for what would have been an easy touchdown. Instead, O’Connell opted for a double-covered Adams on a pass that fell incomplete.
“(We beat) ourselves early on with penalties — just everyone involved, including myself,” O’Connell said. “Just not as good communication as we needed early on and execution. It’s hard to overcome those things in the NFL.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
