Once again, the little things turn into big problems for Raiders

LAS VEGAS — When you’re struggling, you find new and inventive ways to lose games.

And to their credit, the Las Vegas Raiders followed the script Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. They made history by allowing the longest field goal in NFL history and would eventually fail to deliver in their latest stumble — a 30-29 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who nobody will mistake for the Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills.

The Raiders surrendered a record-long NFL field goal —68 yards off the foot of Cam Little to end the first half. They allowed a kick return from a player Jacksonville had just signed off its practice squad at the start of OT 54 yards to give the Jaguars excellent starting field position leading to what would ultimately be the winning score.

Then there was the missed extra point by Daniel Carlson which ultimately turned out to be pretty big. There was a personal foul penalty on Devin White for punching Jaguars tight end Johnny Mundt in the face which helped move a Jacksonville drive along that culminated in a TD. And finally, there was Geno Smith’s 2-point attempt in OT to win the game that was batted down at the line of scrimmage to seal the win for Jacksonville (5-3).

“We know we’re getting better,” an exasperated Pete Carroll said in his postgame remarks. “This was a positive game in many ways.”

Still, in a season that continues to be frustrating for the denizens of Raider Nation, the latest setback, which dropped Las Vegas to 2-6 with a trip to Denver upcoming this Thursday, makes you wonder what the rest of the rocky road is going to be like.

You would have thought that the return of Brock Bowers to the offense, having Maxx Crosby available on defense and Jacksnville missing rookie two-way sensation Travis Hunter would be enough to get the Raiders off the ziggy and end the misery, at least temporarily.

Nope. Not Sunday.

Bowers, who missed the last three games with a knee injury suffered in Week 1 but tried to keep playing until the team shut him down for a month, returned with fire and passion. He scored the first touchdown with a one-handed catch while falling backwards into the end zone as the Raiders led 6-0. He kept a couple of other drives alive with receptions. Ultimately, he finished with 12 catches for 127 yards and three TDs.

“It’s what we’ve been missing,” Carroll said of Bowers. “It’s so obvious. He’s such a great player. His playmaking was excellent."

Yet it wasn’t enough as Smith had a typical day for him — moments of brilliance intertwined with bonehead decisions or missed opportunities where he failed to execute. He finished the day throwing for 284 yards, four TDs and was picked off once while being sacked twice.

He thought the offense performed better and Carroll defended the quarterback, saying “he played excellent.”

Excellent might be a bit of a reach. But Smith did do some good things. Just not enough at the key moments.

Crosby, who hurt his knee in the Kansas City game a couple of weeks ago, was trying to make Trevor Lawrence’s life a living hell.  He did what he could to not let Lawrence dominate in the pocket, sacking him once and finishing with four tackles.

But it wasn’t enough either.
The Jags grind it out like a cold-weather team would. They run it enough. They make first downs when they’re not short-circuiting themselves with false-start or holding penalties. Defensively, they have an underrated secondary that can knock down passes, or, in the case of Montaric Brown, intercept them.

When Jacksonville needed to make a play, be it on third or fourth down, it did so. When it needed to run the ball and try and negate Crosby’s effectiveness, Travis Etienne and Bhayshul Tuten did so. The Jags rushed for 151 yards and three CDs. The Raiders? Nineteen carries, 57 yards and zero TDs.

“I thought we tackled poorly,” Carroll said. “That was the difference for us.”

But in the end, it’s the little things that did the Raiders in yet again. Austin Trammell’s kick return to start OT. The penalties (7 for 55 yards by the Raiders), and the big play at the end as defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton rose up and knocked down Smith’s attempt to make recently acquired Tyler Lockett the hero.

Lockett was open in the back of the end zone but the ball never got to him.

Add it up and it comes out to one more disappointing loss.