The early shine for the Las Vegas Raiders has all but dissipated after they dropped their second consecutive game, the most recent loss a disappointing performance against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Raiders found themselves atop the AFC West standings but now project to have to fight for one of the Wild Card spots in what has been a muddled conference. Even though Jon Gruden is no longer the head coach, interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has still tried to keep the team’s offensive identity on the ground though playing catch up has made it difficult to stick to the run game.
Kenyan Drake, one of the team’s splashy free agency moves, has not made too much of an impact so far during the 2021 season but did seem to try and motivate the team to meet the recent adversity head-on via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN:
#Raiders RB Kenyan Drake: If you can’t get up for any game, regardless of the situation, you need to find another profession.
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) November 17, 2021
Drake also acknowledged that with all the recent upsets the past couple of weeks, the Raiders should have every reason to feel confident they can turn things around:
#Raiders Kenyan Drake, on the seeming randomness of the season: “As cliché as it sounds, Any Given Sunday.”
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) November 17, 2021
The story every year for the Raiders starts out with optimism that they will perform well and after a few weeks of doing so they seem to sputter out. To be fair, they have had to deal with huge adjustments in the past month and that has certainly made things more difficult, but they still have the leadership and talent in place to be better than they have been recently.
Week 11 is going to be another tough test against a Cincinnati Bengals team who has surprised thus far, so picking up a win could be the boost they need to right their season.
