The Las Vegas Raiders went into Gillette Stadium for Week 5, and man, they got absolutely walloped 45-17 by the New England Patriots. Up until now, head coach Klint Kubiak has been hyped as a total ‘prodigy’ and a ‘whiz kid’. But Sunday in New England? That was an abject failure in all three phases, plain and simple. For the first time all season, the Raiders looked completely unprepared, and when blame starts at the top, you know where we’re going with this.
“Very Disappointing” is an Understatement for Kubiak’s Offense
From the jump, the Raiders offense looked lethargic and utterly predictable. Seriously, they went three-and-out on the first possession and just kept getting out-hustled and straight-up manhandled. Kubiak himself admitted it was a “very disappointing performance from players and coaches.” He even said, “We did not get it done as a staff as an offense today.” It felt like that early 10 am start time threw Kubiak for a loop, leading to some incredibly bad coaching decisions. Outside of Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, this offense is just dysfunctional, getting exposed week after week. And get this: Kubiak somehow couldn’t even scheme wide receivers open against fourth- and fifth-string defensive backs! What’s even crazier is the Raiders have every intention of standing pat with this same group of receivers who aren’t making an impact. When the Patriots started blitzing on nearly every play, the offense made zero adjustments, even when the game was still manageable. It was like Kubiak was content for his offense to just roll over and die.
Running Back Blunders That Make You Scratch Your Head
Talk about head-scratchers. Kubiak was calling run play after run play despite having Marcus Jones, who is only 5-foot-8, covering 6-foot-4 Brock Bowers one-on-one nearly all game long. Kubiak himself even confessed, “I abandoned the running game too early and didn’t give it a chance to get going.” But then, he kept trotting out an injured Ashton Jeanty and making him the workhorse. That was a stupid call, especially when Mike Washington Jr. is averaging 5.0 yards per carry this season compared to Jeanty’s 3.4 yards per carry. Washington didn’t even enter the game until there were three minutes left in the third quarter and they were already down by 28 points. And what did he get? A measly swing pass for five yards before he was promptly removed. Meanwhile, return man Dylan Laube somehow got four times more carries than Washington! Laube, a local kid, even got a 2-yard touchdown run after a timeout where Washington was taken off the field. You gotta ask, was it because Laube was a better pass blocker? Or was it just to get him a TD in front of his family and friends? Come on.
Mendoza’s Brief Glimpse in the Rout
The only real “highlight” for Kubiak in this whole mess came when he finally decided to let his #1 overall draft pick, Fernando Mendoza, get into the game for the final drive of a blowout loss. Mendoza came in with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter and actually conducted a no-huddle offense straight down the field, showing poise and command all the way to the red zone. He even delivered a beautiful sideline pass to Malik Benson, but Benson’s toe-drag swag wasn’t on fleek, and he couldn’t get his second foot down in bounds. Ultimately, Mendoza came up a yard short on 4th and four on a quarterback scramble, ending the drive and the game for the Raiders’ offense. When asked about finally getting Mendoza in, Kubiak’s response was cut short: “I just wanted to get h…” Yeah, we get it, Kubiak. After that performance, a lot of people are probably just wondering what happens next.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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