Raiders Continued to Struggle in the Red Zone
The Las Vegas Raiders' red zone struggles carried over to the playoffs and put a halt to the Raiders' miraculous season.
In their first playoff appearance since 2016, the Raiders had the opportunity to tie the game toward the end of regulation but came up short in the red zone.
“Yeah, we just didn’t play good enough in the red zone, not enough touchdowns and too many field goals,” interim head coach Rich Bisaccia said.
Capitalizing in the red zone has been a category the Raiders have struggled with all season long, and it came back to haunt them against the Cincinnati Bengals.
During the regular season, the Raiders' red zone offense went for 31-of-60, a 52 percent mark that ranked the Raiders 26th in the NFL.
On Saturday, in their five red-zone trips, the Raiders were only able to score a touchdown on one attempt; their 20 percent touchdown percentage was tied for the second-worst among teams in the playoffs.
“I don't think penalties helped on some of them. But talking about the red zone and all that, like everything, is just frustrating right now. I didn't expect it to go this way. I didn't feel like it was gonna go this way all during the game at any point,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said.
Penalties might have been one of the issues on Saturday, but it wasn’t the only reason the Raiders left so many points behind.
Credit to the Bengals defense for holding the Raiders down to the very last play.
“Yeah, I mean it's the little things we've got to tweak," running back Josh Jacobs said. "I mean, great teams are the most disciplined, they pay attention to the little details. The penalties obviously hurt us getting in the red zone and not converting, especially against good teams.”
The Raiders should feel proud of themselves for making it this far and getting the best out of a season that had so much turmoil.
While there are some uncertainties heading into the offseason, players in the locker are already looking forward to coming back and executing better next season.
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