Raiders coach Jon Gruden says historically bad loss vs. Falcons reflects on his coaching
In a final score that was surely shocking to much of the NFL, the Raiders lost in embarrassing fashion to the Falcons on Sunday, 43-6, putting their record at 6-5 their chances for the AFC playoffs in peril.
Nothing went right for Las Vegas, starting when coach Jon Gruden’s offense went four-plays-and-out when gifted a 1st-and-5 situation on the day’s first set of downs. The defense held Atlanta to a field goal on the ensuing drive, only to watch quarterback Derek Carr fumble from the pocket on his next opportunity, resulting in the first of five turnovers on the day for the Raiders.
Gruden blamed the utter collapse — against a very beatable Falcons team when the Raiders needed a win badly — on himself, and he even said he’s sorry about the entire ordeal.
“I’d like to apologize to the Raider Nation and compliment the Falcons. They played a hell of a football game, and we did not. The turnovers. The penalties. Inexcusable, and it’s a reflection of me. We’re a lot better team than that.
“When we got hit in the mouth with the 4th-and-1, the stop. Then we fumble the next play. We’ve got to get off the mat and fight back better as a coaching staff and as a football team. That’s something that we’ve got to take a look at. Like I said, it’s a reflection of me. I apologize to the Raider fans.”
The Raiders also committed 11 penalties, adding up to a staggering 141 yards in losses. Carr’s early fumble was one of his three on the day, and they were all recovered by the defense. The QB has now lost eight fumbles on the season.
In fact, in total, it was a historically bad performance by the Raiders, according to ESPN’s Jason McCallum.
The @Raiders had 11 penalties, 141 penalty yards, 5 turnovers, were sacked 5 times and allowed 43 points.
Since 1940, no NFL team had hit those thresholds in a single game.
This was literally an historically inept game put forth in a game that needed to be won. Gross.
— Jason McCallum (@JMacSC) November 29, 2020
But it’s still surprising that the high-powered Raiders’ offense didn’t get moving before it was too late. Their maligned defense played well enough to allow for a slow start from the group. Gruden and Carr could find no such magic, however.
So what happened? Coach Jon Gruden was facing a former assistant in Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris. Gruden is now 1-3 in that situation, according to the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow. Could that have affected the offense so terribly?
When asked postgame about Morris by the Raiders Wire’s Levi Damien, Gruden said: “We had some players open. We had opportunities to make plays. I’m not going to sit here and say anything else. We had plenty of opportunities, they made more plays than we did, and it snowballed on us today. And when you turn the ball over five times and have 120 yards of penalties, you got no chance.”
Whatever the reason for this shocking loss, the Raiders blew a huge opportunity in Atlanta. They must notch some wins immediately to make a playoff push, starting next weekend in New York against the Jets. Las Vegas has to prove its performance in Atlanta wasn’t a true reflection of the head coach and get back to lighting up the scoreboard as they have for most of the campaign.
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