3 Takeaways from Raiders' Week 8 Loss vs. Saints

So much for the Las Vegas Raiders turning around their season. They carried some momentum into Week 8 after winning two of their last three games and nearly upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs in between.

However, the Raiders were dominated by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, losing in an embarrassing 24-0 shutout.

At 2-5, Las Vegas is in serious danger of falling out of the AFC West race entirely. This is not where it expected to be after making the playoffs in 2021 and adding Davante Adams and Chandler Jones in the offseason.

With winnable games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts upcoming, Las Vegas can rebound from this. But Sunday's loss was a wake-up call for anyone who thought the Raiders were back on the right track.

Here's what we learned from Las Vegas' Week 8 loss to the Saints.

Head coach Josh McDaniels provided the typical coachspeak following Sunday's loss, taking the blame for the team's putrid performance.

"If you're going to point a finger, point it at me," he told reporters. "Obviously, I need to do a better job of getting us ready on game day."

Don't worry, Josh, Raider Nation will undoubtedly blame you.

Las Vegas appeared completely unprepared for the Saints on both sides of the ball. The offense didn't cross midfield until late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach. The defense surrendered 24 points to an Andy Dalton-led offense, and a poorly conceived fake punt in the second quarter that led to a turnover on downs didn't help.

The Raiders failed in all three phases, and that points to a head coaching problem. That problem was exacerbated by McDaniels' decision to abandon the run.

Josh Jacobs has been on fire in recent weeks and averaged a solid 4.3 yards per carry against New Orleans. However, the Raiders got behind early, and he finished with a mere 10 carries.

On paper, the Raiders are more talented than last year's wild-card team. The results have been worse, though, and Las Vegas must be wondering if McDaniels was the right hire for this squad.

McDaniels allowed quarterback Derek Carr to play, even though he was limited during the week with a back injury. It's fair to wonder if that was a mistake.

The 31-year-old missed several throws and failed to push the ball downfield, finishing 15-of-26 for 101 yards and an interception before giving way to Jarrett Stidham. He didn't have tight end Darren Waller (hamstring), while Adams was limited with an illness.

Stidham didn't exactly spark the offense, but he did finish 8-of-13 for 72 yards without a turnover.

Carr can't take all of the blame, as his supporting cast and head coach failed him. Adams and Hunter Renfrow finished with one catch apiece, while McDaniels exposed the signal-caller to frequent pressure—he was sacked three times, and the Saints registered nine QB hits.

But Carr appeared to be far less than 100 percent, and with his receiving corps ailing, perhaps he shouldn't have been in the game to begin with. The good news is that he didn't seem to worsen the injury and is already focused on rebounding next week against the Jaguars.

"It does give me some things that I can put a finger on with certain guys and with myself to make sure I'm better, to make sure we're better going forward," he said.

We've touched on Chandler Jones' inability to impact the pass rush a few times this year, but it's now time to admit that signing him to a three-year, $51 million deal was a mistake.

The 32-year-old was supposed to be the high-end complement to Maxx Crosby that Las Vegas had been missing, but it's clear he has lost a step. He again failed to notch a sack or a quarterback hit on Sunday. He has just a half-sack and nine QB pressures on the season.

Dalton didn't look like the same quarterback who was repeatedly pressured into mistakes (including two pick-sixes) a week ago against the Arizona Cardinals. He finished the game 22-of-30 for 229 yards and two touchdowns. He wasn't sacked.

The Raiders' pass rush is just as underwhelming as it was a year ago, perhaps even more so. Las Vegas has notched a mere nine sacks on the year.

Adding to the disappointment is the fact that Yannick Ngakoue has logged four sacks and 12 quarterback pressures with the Colts this season. Las Vegas traded him after acquiring Jones and "upgrading" their pass rush.

The trade for Adams hasn't yielded the desired results, but the signing of Jones has been a flat-out failure.

*Advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference. Contract information via Spotrac.