Raiders do a faceplant in Atlanta reminiscent of 2019 collapse
Any good feelings emanating from the Raiders were buried under an avalanche of turnovers, penalties and poor play Sunday in a 43-6 road loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
If the carnage looked familiar, it should. They were 6-4 last season heading in to their Week 12 road game against the New York Jets. The Jets were 3-7, just like the Falcons. The Jets won 34-0, and that started a downward spiral that saw the Raiders win one of their last six games and finish 7-9.
“That’s going to be written and talked about, I’m sure, and rightfully so,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “We didn’t play well today.”
You think? In terms of a point spread, it was their biggest loss since a 52-0 blowout against the St. Louis Rams in 2014.
It was the Raiders’ second straight defeat, dropped them at least temporarily from playoff seeding position, and was easily the most disturbing result of the season. Although Gruden warned in advance that Atlanta “was one of the best 3-7 teams ever” and stuck by that assessment afterward, the fact is the Falcons have already dismissed their head coach and general manager and are headed for an offseason rebuild.
Quarterback Derek Carr lost three fumbles and threw a pick-six under pressure to Atlanta’s Deion Jones, who ran 67 yards for a touchdown to make it 23-3 early in the
third quarter and signal that the rout was on. Josh Jacobs added a lost fumble as the Raiders turned it over five times after having just three turnovers in the previous five games.
Oh, and the Raiders finished with 11 penalties for a whopping 141 yards.
The Falcons also scored on a 4-yard pass from Matt Ryan to Calvin Ridley, a 4-yard pass from Ryan to Brandon Powell and field goals of 38, 39, 30, 29 and 54 yards by Younghoe Koo.
Carr gave way to Nathan Peterman with nearly 10 minutes to play and finished 22 of 34 for 215 yards. Daniel Carlson had field goals of 29 and 24 yards for the Raiders after red zone opportunities went awry.
Several Raiders, including Carr, insisted that the 6-4 they compiled this season was much different than the 6-4 they had last year heading in to the Jets game. He described their mood as “flat” going in to the game. Although Carr still believes this is a different team, he took issue with the way the Raiders practiced
“Our week of practice was not to the standard we’ve set,” Carr said. “I haven’t felt this way, with this team yet, where we got punched in the face and it just kept happening.”
Another theory was the Raiders were reeling after letting a second win over the Chiefs get away last week.
“That’s not who we are, especially coming off a heartbreaking loss like we did last week,” safety Johnathan Abram said.
“We were supposed to come out here this week
and kind of take our anger out on the Falcons and I feel like we didn’t do that. I feel like we had a pity party for ourselves.”
Highs, lows and all you need to know:
Sign of things to come: On the Raiders first possession, they faced a fourth-and-1 at their own 45-yard line. Gruden went for the first down, and Jacobs was stuffed on a toss sweep to the right. Atlanta converted the field position into the first of five Koo field goals.
Next up was a strip sack of Carr by Foysade Oluokun, which led to Koo connecting from 39 yards.
“We got hit in the mouth with the fourth-and one, then we fumble the next play,” Gruden said. “We’ve got to get up off the mat and fight back better as a coaching staff and as a football team.
It’s a reflection of me and I apologize to the Raider fans.”
Jacobs finished with 27 yards on seven carries before leaving with a leg injury of undetermined severity.
Putting it away: After the Raiders settled for a field goal to get within 23-6, the Falcons made them pay by taking the ball and scoring on Ryan’s 4-yard flip to Powell for a 30-6 lead with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
Atlanta drove 88 yards in 11 plays and got the help of two huge penalties — a 25-yard pass interference call on Isaiah Johnson on a pass intended for Ridley and a 15-yard roughing the passer on Maxx Crosby which moved the ball from the Raiders’ 29 to the 14yard line.
After a lost fumble by Jacobs, the Raiders fourth
turnover, Koo kicked his fourth field goal, this one from 29 yards, and the Falcons were up 33-6 with 13:34 remaining.
The Raiders weren’t done turning it over as Carr lost another one as he was hit while throwing and the Falcons converted turnover No. 5 into an 8-yard scoring run by Ito Smith with 10:48 to play.
“Any time you turn the ball over like that, you’re not going to win football games,” Carr said. “That’s very rare. The percentages are low. I haven’t felt this way in awhile. It’s a gutpunch for sure.”
First-and-goal failure: Down by 20 points, the Raiders finally got something going on offense but ended up having to settle for Carlson’s 29-yard field goal after failing to get in the end zone despite a first-and-goal from the 5 in the middle of the third quarter.
The Raiders drove 69 yards in 12 plays and didn’t even attempt to get their struggling running game involved. Carr threw incomplete to the right to Henry Ruggs III and then again to the right,
and finally completed a third pass to the right to Devontae Booker, who was dumped for a 1-yard loss by A.J. Terrell.
A backbreaking pick: Jones’ 67-yard interception return for a touchdown put the Falcons up 23-3 with 11:36 left in the half.
It came after the Raiders were set up at the Atlanta 36 by a partially deflected Falcons punt by Derek Carrier.
On first-and-10, Carr underthrew Booker. On second down, under severe pressure, Carr tried to force a pass to Booker over the middle and Jones stole it in stride and ran it back for the touchdown and a 20-point lead.
Falcons take charge: Atlanta broke through with the game’s first touchdown on Ryan’s 3-yard flip on fourth-and-2 to Ridley for a 13-3 lead with 2:17 left in the first half.
Atlanta drove 82 yards in 13 plays on the drive, and lost an interception opportunity when Nick Kwiatkoski came up with a deflected Ryan pass. It was negated by a facemask penalty by Nevin Lawson.
Another flag, a debatable
one against Dallin Leavitt, set up the Falcons’ score. Koo had pushed a field goal attempt wide right, but Leavitt rolled into the kicker after he appeared to be blocked into him. It gave the Falcons a first down at the 11 and a second chance.
A week after committing eight penalties against the Chiefs, including four for Kansas City first downs, it was even worse against the Falcons. Up until the Kansas City game, penalties had not been a major issue.
“We’ve been pretty good to this point. We’ve had a couple games where we have been penalized — roughing the passer, roughing the kicker,” Gruden said. “We had some holding calls, illegal hands to the face. You fall behind in the down and distance, you give teams free shots, it’s a recipe for disaster and that was what you saw today.”
Abram delivers, Raiders settle: An interception of Ryan by Johnathan Abram set the Raiders up for what looked to be a scoring drive after Carr hit Ruggs for a 36-yard strike on
fourth-and-3 to the 3-yard line.
Consecutive penalties on left tackle Kolton Miller (holding) and Brandon Parker (hands to the face) pushed the Raiders back to the 23-yard line and the drive ended with a 29-yard Carlson field goal.
Abram’s pick came with the help of Isaiah Johnson, who got his hands on a pass from Ryan to Hayden Hurst.
Arnette out: Cornerback Damon Arnette took some friendly fire from linebacker Cory Littleton on the first play of the game, was helped from the field, and later returned. Then, after making a tackle, officials had him removed from the game. He did not return. Trayvon Mullen injured his hip while breaking up a pass in the end zone but was back on the field to start the second half.
Guard Denzelle Good left but returned to the game. Gruden said he hoped to get Clelin Ferrell, Lamarcus Joyner and Trent Brown back “sometime soon” and said he was concerned about both Jacobs and Arnette.