What the Raiders, Pete Carroll Must Eliminate to End Skid

While the Las Vegas Raiders' Week 3 loss was far from unexpected, their overall performance was a shock for everyone involved. Las Vegas' Week 3 loss to the Washington Commanders witnessed all three phases of Raiders football play subpar football at one point or another.

Carroll's Surprise

The Raiders' special teams has usually been a stout unit. However, they were anything but that on Sunday against the Washington Commanders. Las Vegas' special team gave up multiple big plays that directly led to points for the Commanders.

Along with the issues the Raiders displayed on offense and defense against the Commanders, the last thing the Raiders could afford was for its special teams unit to figuratively drop the ball. Before Wednesday's practice Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll addressed the unit's performance.

"Yeah, that was a really surprising ball game because we've been solid for all the way through Tom's [McMahon] years and all that. That was a game that those two carries just got away from us and made a huge difference in the game. One was a 90- and the other was an 80-yarder or something like that. I mean, you never plan on having to deal with that factor unless it's on our side. So, everybody's working really hard,” Carroll said.

"They're taking into account the things that they have to do and do better. We have to play better as a whole group. Just a couple guys got out of lanes on coverage, and it really exploded. And our safety guys couldn't get on the ground. I'm going to do this again because I love the way this guy coaches, but I'm giving Larry Izzo a lot of credit. He put together a great game plan, and his guys executed really well. And obviously, they really had their way with us."

The Raiders undoubtedly have significant issues they must fix on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. However, Sunday's loss to Washington was a costly reminder that details matter in all three phases of the game.

As bad as the final score was in their loss to the Commanders, the Raiders would have actually had a shot to win, had the special teams unit not given up the plays they did. Las Vegas must find a way to make its special teams special. Or at least find a way to make the unit serviceable.