The Las Vegas Raiders dropped to 2-6 on the season with a Week 9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Raiders-Jaguars game looked like it could be a win for the visiting team as the Raiders jumped out to an early 20-7 lead. However, the Jags got a field goal before the half and outscored the Raiders 17-0 in the second half to get the W. There are a lot of players to blame for the Raiders Week 9 loss. Quarterback Derek Carr tops the list of the five Raiders most to blame for the Week 9 loss vs. the Jaguars.

4. Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones

The Raiders are paying pass-rushers Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones a combined $34.2 million this season and have 6.5 sacks to show for it.

Crosby has been the better of the pair, with 6.0 sacks on the season. He also played better against the Jaguars in the Raiders Week 9 loss. He made five tackles, with one for a loss and recovered a fumble. Jones has just 0.5 sacks this season and just two tackles vs. Jacksonville.

The Jaguars offensive line and Trevor Lawrence have been good this season, allowing just 12 sacks thus far. However, the Raiders mustered absolutely nothing on Sunday. They didn’t sack Lawrence once, letting him stand in the pocket in the second half and pick them apart.

The Raiders D hit Lawrence just four times, and that was a big reason he was able to lead the big comeback. Crosby and Jones weren’t great against the run either in the Raiders Week 9 matchup. Travis Etienne has 28 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

The two biggest stars on the Raiders D aren’t playing up to their contracts, and that’s a big reason why the losses are piling up.

3. Carmen Bricillo

We could blame Jermaine Eluemunor, Alex Bars, Kolton Miller, Dylan Parham, and Andre James individually because the Raiders offensive line stinks. However, to be concise, let’s list Las Vegas offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo as the main culprit for the Raiders Week 9 loss.

This isn’t exactly the Dallas Cowboys OL of the 90s, but there is some talent here. Miller and James are solid players, and rookie guard Parham looks like a long-term building block.

That said, Bricillo isn’t getting the best out of these players at all. Some of it is the fault of Derek Carr, who is holding onto the ball too long, and Josh Jacobs, who can be hesitant hitting the hole. The Jaguars got two sacks in big spots on Sunday, though, and that was a problem.

The offensive line needs to do better. If the Raiders need to overcome their quarterback’s foibles (more on that below) the OL needs to play above and beyond and that’s on Bricillo to figure out how.

2. Josh McDaniels

The Las Vegas Raiders have now blown leads of 17 points or more three times this season. That's a horrific stat.

When a team can't take a 17-point lead to the finish line, a lot of that has to be put on the head coach. Josh McDaniels wasn't a great head coach with the Denver Broncos his first time around, but the narrative was that he learned a lot from that and by returning to the New England Patriots.

However, it looks like the same old head coach McDaniels with the Raiders in 2022.

The team completely turtled in the second half, and couldn't get a single scoring drive going. Some of that is on Derek Carr — and we'll get to him — but it's on the head coach and play-caller to manufacture some more first downs and at least a field goal to keep the clock and the scoreboard moving.

In the second half of the Raiders-Jaguars game, Las Vegas ran 25 offensive plays and made just four first downs. The unit gained a total of 70 yards and, of course, scored zero points. McDaniels has to take a lot of the responsibility for those putrid numbers.

1. Derek Carr

Derek Carr is just not good enough.

Again, there is a case you can make that Josh McDaniels’ offense isn’t helping him out. But in the end, it’s Carr with the ball in his hands, and he’s not doing enough to win ballgames.

Against the Jaguars, Carr finished 21-of-36 for 259 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s not bad at all from a numbers perspective. However, in the second half, Carr was just 5-of-15 for 36 yards.

Carr was also 3-of-12 on 3rd down, 1-of-3 on 4th down, and 0-of-1 in trips to the red zone.

When the Raiders QB can get some time and bomb it from around midfield, he looks like a good QB. When it’s winning time, though, Carr always seems to fall woefully short.

Those clutch numbers in the Raiders-Jaguars game aren’t an aberration. The Raiders are 21st in the league this season in 3rd-down conversion rate (37.9%) and 23rd in red zone conversion rate (50%). Some of that is play calling, but ultimately it’s on Derek Carr.

Anecdotally, you can see this with his poor throws in the red zone, of which he had another on Sunday. Late in the first half, in a bid to go up 24-7, Carr hit a Jacksonville defender in the back in the end zone while trying to complete a pass to running back Ameer Abdullah. The Raiders ended up settling for a field goal.

It’s a delicate situation with Carr because he is a team leader and a major reason his college teammate, Davante Adams, came to Las Vegas. In order to move forward, though, the Raiders probably need to upgrade this offseason.