Raiders’ quick slants: Jaguars edition

Davante Adams dream of playing for the Raiders came to fruition this offseason. Unfortunately, playing for the Silver & Black has turned into a nightmare — for Adams and everyone else associated with the team (coaches, players, and fans alike).

Adams, along with quarterback Derek Carr, came out like gangbusters building a 17-0 lead on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even though the host Jags trimmed the advantage to 20-10 before halftime, the nine-catch, 146-yard, two-touchdown stat line Adams built with Carr throwing him the rock seemed like the duo was only scratching the surface.

Turns out, that was that.

Adams caught only one more catch for zero yards as the Jaguars scored 17 second-half points to the Raiders’ none — 27-20 victory for Jacksonville.

Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Unio / USA TODAY NETWORK

An exasperated Adams was greeted by reporters seeking answers to why the Raiders can’t play a full four quarters of football after eight games during the post game media scrum.

“Execution. That’s what it comes down to, especially in critical situations,” Adams said. “I’ve never been in a position where I’ve had to answer the same exact type of questions, week in and week out, and, I mean, that’s the questions that are out there. You gotta ask that. But I don’t have the answer.”

For the third time this season, the Las Vegas Raiders rolled snake eyes by blowing a 17-point lead. This latest collapse put the desert marauders in sad company as only three teams in NFL history lost a trio of games in one season after it lead by 17-plus points. The 2022 Raiders are one and the other two are the 2020 Los Angeles Chargers and the 2003 Atlanta Falcons.

Las Vegas’ susceptible defense continued to be loose and a detriment to the team’s hopes of success. Whether it was a blitz or dropping pass rushers into coverage, little worked as Jacksonville methodically took the lead. Yet, for as loose as they were, the Raiders defense gave the offense opportunities for the comeback win.

But no dice. Even when the Jaguars missed a field goal.

When the Raiders needed it most, the playmakers didn’t make any plays.

The frustration was present on the Raiders sideline. And despite their best efforts to hide said vexation in the post game press conference and locker room availability, the irritation was palpable. So much so, the live feed of the press conference abruptly ended in the middle of a reports follow up question.

“There is a lot I want to say,” Carr said in the presser. “But I don’t need to say it here, you know. There are things that need to be said and things that need to be addressed. The urgency part of it … after 30 minutes of football, we have to learn that the game is not over. There are things in-house that we will talk about man to man.”

In a lost season, this breed of Raiders mastered the art of losing.

Ain’t that something.

Let’s hit those quick slants as fast as the Jaguars roared past the Raiders:

—Adams accounted for nearly 48 percent (47.6) of Las Vegas’ passing attack. It’s still wild that his statistics were compiled in the first half and he was completely blanked (in terms of yards although he drew eight targets) in the second half.

—Raiders running back Josh Jacobs churned out 67 yards on 17 carries with a long of 15 yards. While the workhorse back did break through for yards, he was often stymied by a determined Jaguars defense.

—Adams questioned the Raiders second-half offensive philosophy noting trying to establish the run is well and good, but Las Vegas’ aerial attack was lighting up Jacksonville. Again, Adams qualified the comment by nothing he loves and trust the coaches, but airing it out should’ve remained.

—Going back to the Raiders joining miserable company by losing three games in one season where they lead by 17-plus points, there’s one more caveat to that distinction: The two coaches of that Chargers and Falcons teams — Anthony Lynn and Dan Reeves, respectively — were fired after blowing those type of leads.

—Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who finished with five total tackles and a stop for loss, collected the team’s fifth takeaway by recovering a Jaguars fumble.

—Las Vegas lost linebacker Divine Deablo for the game early due to a forearm injury. The second-year linebacker and team leader in total tackles was listed with a wrist ailment the week leading up to Sunday’s game.

—Linebackers Blake Martinez and Denzel Perryman led the Raiders defense with 11 and 10 total tackles, respectively.