The Las Vegas Raiders fought valiantly on the road but ultimately came up short against the Indianapolis Colts, falling 23-20. Despite an excellent effort from Davante Adams, who finished with 13 catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns, the Raiders weren’t able to overcome an early deficit in Indianapolis.
It is an unfortunate outcome for the Raiders who came into this season with big expectations but were unable to live up to them. While there were good stretches, particularly after Antonio Pierce took over as interim head coach, it simply wasn’t enough, and that bothers Adams.
It is now two straight seasons that the Raiders have failed to make the postseason, and Adams didn’t offer any excuses, saying the Raiders just didn’t play well enough to make it.
“I mean, every season that you don’t go to the playoffs is a missed opportunity,” Adams said. “I mean, all the teams in this league are good, it’s just a matter of how you go out there and play, and we just didn’t play good enough to do that.”
Adams would continue, adding that for the Raiders the frustration is even greater simply because of the excellent potential the team has.
“I mean, anybody — I’m sure all the teams that are eliminated at this point, not just us, are frustrated. And we definitely are a little extra just based off of what we have and the potential of this team.”
Coming into the season the Raiders, on paper, had the potential to be one of the top offenses in the league. With Jakobi Meyers joining Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow to form a dynamic wide receiver trio, Josh Jacobs coming off leading the league in rushing, rookie tight end Michael Mayer being full of promise, and Jimmy Garoppolo coming in to stabilize the quarterback position, things seemed to be in place.
But it never clicked under then-head coach Josh McDaniels who eventually was fired as the offensive-minded coach could never get things going despite the talent. Pierce coming in changed the entire energy surrounding the team, but it wasn’t enough and now Adams and the rest of the Raiders find themselves at home during the playoffs once again.
There is no doubt the franchise will be hard at work this offseason looking to right the wrongs and figure out how to get the Raiders back on track. Adams wants success for this team and the franchise needs to make the right moves to turn things around.
