The Las Vegas Raiders have gotten off to about as bad a start to this season as possible, currently finding themselves as the lone 0-3 team in the NFL. With very high expectations coming into the season, this start has led many to try and figure out what is going wrong for the Raiders, and that includes former NFL MVP and Raiders legend Rich Gannon.
Despite having chances in all three contests, the Raiders simply haven’t been able to get over the hump and get that victory, and Gannon has his eyes on a couple of issues that are really costing the Raiders.
In a video on the 33rd Team, Gannon pointed toward the Raiders’ struggles on the offensive line as being a primary issue for their problems on that side of the ball:
“What I’m seeing now is some of the same things I saw in the preseason. I think offensively you have to start with the issues they have up front. They are not playing well along the offensive line […] Carr is a quarterback that needs a good firm pocket and he hasn’t gotten that. The offensive line has grossly underperformed.”
Gannon noted the Raiders’ trade for tackle Justin Herron as a bad sign and proof of the team’s issues up front being serious. They have allowed eight sacks so far this season, and Carr has been under pressure a lot which, as Gannon pointed out, is not great for the Raiders quarterback.
But the issues don’t stop on that side of the ball, however as Gannon also called out the defense’s inability to pressure the quarterback, particularly calling out offseason addition Chandler Jones:
“Defensively, the same issues we saw last year from this group, their inability to get pressure on the quarterback. Just two sacks so far this season through three games. That’s why they went out and got Chandler Jones, and he’s not making enough plays.”
The Raiders rank dead last in sacks at just 2 through three games, with both of those coming from Maxx Crosby. Additionally, they are near the bottom of the league in QB pressures, and Jones himself has just six tackles and one tackle for loss.
When a team starts 0-3 there are obviously many issues that can be pointed at. It is always stated how important line play is on both sides of the ball, and the Raiders’ struggles are just more proof of this. It is still early enough for the Raiders to turn things around, but they will have to fix these problems soon if they want any hope of salvaging this season.
