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Davante Adams put up impressive numbers for the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but his 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns weren’t enough to keep the Raiders from losing 23-18 on Sunday Night Football.
After the game, Adams had some strong words for his teammates, suggesting that, at 30, time was running out on his prime years and that, collectively, they haven’t learned how to play as a team yet.
“We have to stop putting ourselves in all these tough-to-overcome situations,” Adams said told reporters. “We have to take care of the ball. … All these analytics, and these things about teams winning the turnover battle and they don’t mean s*** until you go out there and play ball. We’re having a tough time consistently doing that right now.”
The Raiders’ record now falls to 7-13 since Adams joined the team during the 2022 offseason. He is in only the second year of a five-year deal, but he will turn 31 on Christmas Eve and the list of receivers to make an opening day roster at that age is not very long.
“I don’t want to act like it’s all crazy … it’s Week 3 … but I don’t got time to be waiting around,” Adams said. “It’s not a personal thing. Well, it is a personal thing. It ain’t just about me but it’s not my mentality to sit here and take all season to try to figure it out.
“We’re not doing things the right way to establish a winning culture early in the season, so we have to do something to turn it around,” he said.
Josh McDaniels Talks Jimmy Garoppolo Interception
The one player the Raiders need to improve their game the most is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who threw three interceptions against Pittsburgh and now leads the NFL with six.
The ugliest interception in Week 3 came on a second-and-10 from the Steelers’ 45-yard line with 7:25 left in the third quarter and the Raiders down 16-7. Garoppolo had protection in the pocket and ample time to throw, but he could not find an open receiver. Instead of throwing away the ball out of bounds, he sailed the ball about three yards past wide receiver Jakobi Meyers on a deep route and into the arms of Steelers cornerback, Patrick Peterson, who was able to come away with the easy interception. Six players later, Pittsburgh scored a touchdown to make the score 23-7.
Head coach Josh McDaniels discussed the head-scratching play.
“Those are plays, obviously, we don’t want to make,” McDaniels said in his September 24 postgame press conference. “I think Jimmy makes a lot of good plays, but, obviously, when the quarterback holds the ball, he holds the fortune of our team also in his hands when he’s doing those things. He knows. He understands the situation.”
Las Vegas Raiders Offense Among Worst in NFL
The Raiders have the fifth-most expensive offense in the NFL this year, according to Spotrac, and McDaniels has long been considered an offensive guru. It hasn’t looked that way through three games. Las Vegas is averaging 15.0 points per game, which is fourth worst in the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the cheapest offense in the NFL and are scoring 23.5 points a game. The Raiders’ last two games were against stout Steelers and Buffalo Bills defenses but are playing a weak Los Angeles Chargers defense in Week 4 that is allowing 29.0 points per game this season. If they can’t figure out ways to score against the Chargers, there is a big reason to be concerned about this Raiders offense.
Adams is fourth in the league in receiving yards (322) and tied for second in touchdown receptions (3).
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