Raiders flaws are catching up fast and the schedule wont wait

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.— The Raiders do not get a week to catch their breath after getting blown out, 45-17, by the Patriots on Sunday.They get the Buffalo Bills.Then the Rams.Whatever answers they have for a running game going nowhere, a passing attack asking too much of too few, and a defense absorbing painful lessons had better come quickly.Two straight losses have changed the conversation around a team that opened with three straight wins.

The progress is real.So are the limitations.Sunday’s blowout loss to the Patriots was a reminder that a good September did not erase everything that made this a rebuilding project.The Raiders are better.

They also have a long way to go.Now coach Klint Kubiak must get them back on track against opponents equipped to exploit the weaknesses they have yet to resolve.“We’re not happy with what happened today, and we have to go do something about it,” Kubiak said.“We have to fix it and move on.”Easier said than done with two playoff teams arriving in Las Vegas over the next two weeks.“We’re all gonna look at the mirror.

It takes every single one of us,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said.“We’ve just got to improve from it.”Start with the running game, where too many of the offensive problems begin.The Raiders managed 38 yards on 18 carries Sunday.

Another week, another afternoon searching for room that never materialized.Falling behind pushed them toward the pass and away from the ground game Kubiak wants to establish as their identity.But the coach put that decision on himself.“I abandoned the run game too early and didn’t give it a chance to get going,” Kubiak said.Ashton Jeanty’s health belongs in the discussion.

Limited in practice Thursday and sidelined Friday, he needed a pregame workout to determine whether his ankle and foot injuries would allow him to play.He got clearance.“Unless I can’t run, jump, cut, I’m playing,” Jeanty said.Clearance is one thing.Full explosiveness is another.

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