TAMPA, Fla — Whoever said they don’t believe in moral victories has never been on a professional football team that lost nine straight games.
If the Las Vegas Raiders didn’t, again once, look for the silver lining after Sunday’s 28-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they would be stark raving mad by now. They fell behind 14-0 almost immediately, and if they threw their hands up and said screw it, no one would have really blamed them. It’s been that kind of season.
But they didn’t.
“That’s the story of our season,” safety Tre’von Moehrig said. “No matter what happens, we keep playing.”
The defense started making plays and the Raiders were poised to take the lead in the third quarter before an interception ended a 10-minute drive. Then, at the end of the quarter, quarterback Aidan O’Connell was knocked out of the game and carted off the field with a knee injury and an air cast on his leg.
“It doesn’t look good,” coach Antonio Pierce said after the game.
Pierce thought there was a late hit on the play, but it wasn’t called. That was the ball game, as Desmond Ridder replaced O’Connell, and the Buccaneers scored two touchdowns late when the defense ran out of gas.
If Pierce sounded like a broken record after the game, that’s because the 2-11 Raiders are definitely stuck. Their defense has had a lot of injuries to overcome, and the offense has only scored more than 20 points three times — and that was with both of their now-injured quarterbacks (Gardner Minshew II and O’Connell).
“There’s grit, effort,” Pierce said. “None of that stuff we can really argue. You can, but I’m not. I’m proud of how these guys keep competing regardless of who goes down. … They’re not flinching or blinking. They still believe.”
They did need a little prodding after the Buccaneers jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
The Buccaneers obviously saw something they liked on film, as they elected to receive the kickoff after winning the coin toss and then averaged 8.1 yards per play on their opening two drives that ended with Baker Mayfield touchdown passes. But Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham made some tweaks to the pressure and coverage schemes and the big guys in the trenches started winning their matchups.
“They had a strong plan to attack us, but we made adjustments and you saw the results,” defensive tackle Adam Butler said. “We were able to hold them most of the game.”
“They did a few things different, coverage-wise, with their tendencies,” Mayfield said.
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The Raiders sacked Mayfield four times and had three takeaways after coming into the game last in the league with only five. In the second quarter, defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson tipped an interception to himself and Amari Burney’s sack resulted in a fumble. Moehrig jumped on the ball for, amazingly, the Raiders’ first fumble recovery of the season. Later in the quarter, Mayfield was being pressured by Maxx Crosby and rookie Jonah Laulu and overthrew a pass that cornerback Jack Jones ran under for an interception.
“The guys responded, obviously,” Crosby said. “It was not the start we wanted, but we went out there and found a way to make it a game again. It’s a testament to everybody in here.
“We have to find ways to keep improving, but I thought we did a pretty damn good job of responding to adversity. … It was good to see guys going out there hunting.”
We’ll take that 😏#LVvsTB | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/iGrZdyCdOZ
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) December 8, 2024
Butler had one of the team’s four sacks and has taken on a leadership role. He took the moral victory talk and bumped it up a notch. He said this defense is building something special … for next season.
“Assuming that we keep this defense together, and we get all the guys back, it’s really encouraging to know that the group that is out there now, we’ll have those guys as backups next year,” Butler said. “So we’ll be strong no matter what happens.”
He pointed to Chaisson’s interception, half-sack and tackle for a loss. The 2020 first-round pick, who the Carolina Panthers waived in September, also had 1 1/2 sacks last week.
“I am very proud of him,” Butler said. “He’s been showing up the last couple of games. I am very proud of his work ethic, very proud of all the young guys in our group. We’re going to just keep stacking.
Offensively, Brock Bowers set an NFL record for receptions by a rookie tight end with 87, and former practice squad player Sincere McCormick averaged 5.2 yards per carry as he slowly asserts himself as the No. 1 running back.
“Unfortunately, our record is our record but I am proud of myself for where I came from,” McCormick said. “I am going to continue to have that fire and convince them to keep me around.”
Younger players and older ones like Butler, 30, have vowed not to let the losing streak affect focus or effort.
“We just have to keep being pros about how we approach the game,” he said. “You have to be able to lock in regardless of what happens.”
What will happen is the Raiders will start their third quarterback this season in Ridder. He will be going against his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, on “Monday Night Football,” and while it may be too soon for this premise, here goes:
The O’Connell injury may be good for Pierce’s future. There was some thought around the organization and the league that Pierce may need a couple of wins down the stretch to ensure his return next season. The bad quarterback play, Davante Adams’ defection and season-ending injuries to four key defensive players were valid excuses before O’Connell’s injury, and now maybe the results of the final four games don’t matter.
The Raiders players, though, have continued to flirt — albeit clumsily — with victories in most of their 11 losses. And they don’t expect to let up. For Pierce or themselves.
“I don’t see anybody giving up,” Butler said.
That is worth something.
“It’s upsetting,” Crosby said. “We want to win at all costs. We have to find ways to keep getting better, that’s all we can do. We’re 2-11 and we have a lot of room to improve and … yeah, that’s all we can do.”
(Photo of Aidan O’Connell being carted off the field: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
