The Las Vegas Raiders offered up little resistance during their 44-27 loss at home to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14.
The Raiders knew full well that this was an important week for both sides to keep their playoff hopes alive. Rather than step up to the challenge, the team has been forced to make some major adjustments with three games left in the season.
Las Vegas has parted ways with defensive coordinator Paul Guenther following another lackluster year on his side of the ball. Winning in the NFL is already difficult enough without having to overcome one poor defensive effort after another.
Regardless, quarterback Derek Carr is focused on taking care of what he can control, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
Carr was asked how hard it is to play with a bad defense and Carr answered, "My job is to protect the ball and score touchdowns and I didn't do a good job of that today.:"
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) December 14, 2020
There is certainly plenty of truth to Carr’s comments. As bad as the defense was, the offense certainly did not do itself any favors with a number of mistakes.
Carr threw two interceptions with each having a bigger impact than the last. The first turned out to be the play of the day after cornerback Kenny Moore snagged a one-handed interception in his own end zone. The second pick was returned to the house by safety Khari Willis to clinch the win with 5:22 to play.
The Raiders’ third turnover came via fumble by wide receiver Hunter Renfrow after catching a pass from Carr. Such errors proved to be quite costly, especially with the defense giving up 456 total yards that included 212 on the ground.
Although neither side did itself any favors, Carr is locked in on fixing the issues that are under his jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the responsibility now falls on defensive line coach Rod Marinelli to try and have this group step up as the interim coordinator.
The Raiders do not have much time to recover with an AFC West showdown coming up against the Lops Angeles Chargers on Thursday night.
