3 Takeaways from Raiders' Week 15 Loss

For the second year in a row, the Las Vegas Raiders are having trouble finishing the season off. And just like 2019, it may be costing them their chances of returning to the playoffs.

On Thursday night, the Raiders lost to the Los Angeles Chargers 30-27 in overtime at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It was Las Vegas' fourth loss in its past five games and has now fallen to 7-7.

Last season, the Raiders started 6-4, then lost five of their last six games and missed the playoffs. They started 6-3 in 2020, then lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. That started their recent skid (during which their only victory came against the winless New York Jets in Week 13), and it may lead to them again extending their postseason drought of four years.

Las Vegas took a 27-24 lead courtesy of a 23-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson with 3 minutes, 18 seconds to go in overtime. However, Los Angeles then drove down the field and won the game on a one-yard touchdown run by rookie quarterback Justin Herbert.

Here are three takeaways from the Raiders' loss on Thursday night.

On Sunday night, the Raiders fired defensive coordinator Phil Guenther and promoted defensive line coach Rod Marinelli. There were some positive signs from the defense against Los Angeles, but it still wasn't good enough for Las Vegas to win.

After giving up more than 200 rushing yards each of the previous two weeks, the Raiders held the Chargers to 96 rushing yards on 29 carries. But Las Vegas' passing defense continued to struggle, allowing Herbert to air it out for 314 yards and two touchdowns, and it notched only one sack.

The Raiders defense also couldn't get a key stop late after they had taken the lead in overtime. The Chargers took over at their own 25-yard line with 3:18 to go, then picked up 20 yards on a defensive pass interference on the second play. On the next play, Herbert hit wide receiver Jalen Guyton for a 53-yard gain, and Herbert punched in the game-winning score four plays later.

It's possible that Las Vegas' defense may have played better had it been at full strength. The Raiders were without four starters due to injury—defensive end Clelin Ferrell (shoulder), linebacker Nicholas Morrow (concussion), cornerback Damon Arnette (concussion) and safety Johnathan Abram (concussion).

Las Vegas' next game isn't until Dec. 26, so perhaps that will give the defense time to get healthy, to continue to work with Marinelli and build off some of the positives from Thursday.

The Raiders lost starting quarterback Derek Carr in the first quarter to a groin injury that head coach Jon Gruden said after the game is "pretty significant." Fortunately for Las Vegas, backup quarterback Marcus Mariota is healthy after missing time earlier in the season due to a strained pectoral.

In his first action for the Raiders, Mariota went 17-of-28 for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while rushing for a game-high 88 yards and a touchdown. He led three drives that resulted in touchdowns, including one that lasted 19 plays and 10:52. It went 75 yards and ended with his game-tying two-yard touchdown run with 6:16 to go in the fourth quarter.

"You lose Derek and then we change gears offensively and Marcus came in and did a great job," Gruden said, according to Curtis Pashelka and Jerry McDonald of the Mercury News. "Really proud of him. I think that this kind of puts an exclamation point on why we signed him and just wish we could have won the game for him."

Mariota had chances to lead Las Vegas to victory, but he didn't have quite as much success late. He was intercepted with 1:54 remaining while the Raiders were in field-goal range. Then, on their lone drive in OT (which went 14 plays for 70 yards), Mariota couldn't get the ball in the end zone despite having a 1st-and-goal at Los Angeles' 4-yard line.

Still, if Carr ends up missing Las Vegas' final two regular-season games, Mariota proved that the offense is in capable hands. And with more than a week to prepare, he could have an even better showing next time out.

The Raiders are in serious trouble with only two games remaining. It's going to take some significant help from elsewhere for them to get into the playoffs as an AFC wild card.

First, Las Vegas needs to win out. Its Week 16 home matchup against the Miami Dolphins, who are currently 8-5 and the No. 7 seed in the AFC, is a must-win game. Then, the Raiders close out the regular season on the road against the Denver Broncos (5-8).

While the Dolphins are currently the last team in from the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens are also 8-5, and they have a light remaining schedule with games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals. So, it's quite possible Baltimore could win out and reach the playoffs.

If the Raiders, Dolphins and Ravens all finished 9-7, the Raiders would win the tiebreaker. But it'll take some help for that situation to arise.

"Trying to go on a journey of where we envision ourselves each year at the start of the year, what we want to do as a team and what we want to accomplish, obviously it's frustrating," Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs said, per Pashelka and McDonald.

Since losing Super Bowl XXXVII at the end of the 2002 season, the Raiders have only made the playoffs once (the 2016 season, when they lost their first postseason game). It's looking increasingly like they won't get back there this season.