Las Vegas Raiders
Wow. I definitely did not see Sunday night’s game between the Raiders and Chargers being as riveting as it was, but wow. I tend to be the kind of person that likes to go to bed early, but this stupid game actually kept me awake and involved. Well done NFL, you are putting out a great product. I think the Chargers have more talent on their team than the Raiders, but it did not matter on Sunday. I strongly dislike Derek Carr, but he made some incredible throws to put the Raiders into a great position at the end of the game.
Then, the Chargers decided to go with the strategy of dumb. They called the timeout. They blinked and the Raiders took advantage. You hear it from Carr himself postgame:
Derek Carr admits that Brandon Staley calling a timeout changed what happened at the end.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 10, 2022
The #Chargers could've been in the playoffs!pic.twitter.com/9mnIQDYI1s
Take it for what it’s worth: I think the Raiders were probably still trying, but maybe they tried a bit harder? Regardless, the Raiders (admittedly not an excellent team) are heading to the playoffs on the back of Derek Carr. Carr has never played in the playoffs because the one year they made it, he was injured and didn’t play. They head to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. Do I expect the Raiders to lose? Yes. Why? Because Carr is bad in cold weather and the weather looks cold in Cincy.
The high Saturday is slated to be 27 degrees.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) January 11, 2022
Zac Taylor on Monday said smiling, "it's not a disadvantage."
Derek Carr for his career in games where kickoff temp was even 37 degrees or less?
0-5, never scored more than 17 points, one game with a passer rating over 78.
I also think the Bengals have too much talent on offense and after that game and a shorter week against a rested Bengals team and a super rested Joe Burrow—it just won’t happen.
I do have to tip the cap to Rich Bisaccia. This season has been rough off the field for the Raiders and he got them to the playoffs. I would not be surprised if we see “interim” removed from his title in the near future (aka after next weekend when they are one and done in the playoffs). He got the team to believe.
I’m ok with Bissacia as the next head coach. I don’t see him being some all-time great and I don’t see him getting them deep into the playoffs. I also like the idea of them keeping Derek Carr. I’m pretty sure that’s what will happen. And then next year, we can keep making fun of the Raiders.