Del Rio Calls Out Raiders' Lack of Confidence, Yet Didn't Show Any Himself

Jack Del Rio thinks that the Oakland Raiders' fortnight-long freefall is in considerable part a matter of diminishing confidence.
 
But that's probably giving the fellows all the best of it. In getting handled by the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, 30-17, the Raiders demonstrated that if their 2-3 record is a matter of confidence, they didn't have much to begin with, and that it isn't just the players giving off that vibe.
 
That they were worked by the stuttering Baltimores from start to finish is clear. Gaining only 245 yards in a mere 54 plays is a hint. Having only one offensive player – Michael Crabtree – stand out speaks a medley or two. Having its secondary reinflate Joe Flacco's sense of self-worth from the game's first scrimmage play is not surprising given the preseason analyses that pinpointed that as a clear weakness.
 
But even Riverboat Jack, the man who lent this team an additional air of panache by defying the precepts of doctrinaire football, emitted a sense that even in a moment where gambling was defensible, he didn't believe that the reward outweighed the risk.
 
In other words, he punted the ball away with 8:58 to play, down 10 and facing a fourth-and-three from the Baltimore 44 – very not Riverboaty McRiverboatface by anyone's standard.
 
The crowd, already conditioned to be in foul humor by early mistakes that gave the Ravens a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game, booed lustily as they saw their guy muck the few cards he had.
 
Not that it would have made a lot of difference given the way Baltimore's offensive shoved the Raiders in any desired direction. As Del Rio said in his autopsy report, "Is that the difference today? I don't think so."
 
And he's right. But then, he had always cast himself as the guy willing to die a gloriously frantic death, so his character as defined by the customers (and maybe by the players as well) demanded that he have backup quarterback E.J. Manuel try to convert that fourth down.
 
"It's not easy (to call for the punt)," he said. "Hindsight is always 20/20 on things like that. You're thinking you're going to pin them inside the 10 and we didn't (a touchback). You're thinking the defense will give us a stop and get us the ball back, and we didn't (the Ravens eat up 6:26 of the remaining 8:50 with a 13-play/10-run drive that resulted in a safety-first field goal). We get the ball back after having to call timeouts on the plus side of the field. It didn't go anything like what it needed to." 
 
That's sort of when you expect him to double down, but he seemed to have lost some belief as the game went on as well. Not having Carr seems to do that to this team.
 
But this is not Manuel's fault, either, for he is who he is. He had only one reliable weapon, Crabtree, and while Marshawn Lynch had his moments, Baltimore committed stoutly to the run in an effort to make the Raiders win by air power. It didn't come close.
 
The defense had far fewer moments – Sean Smith beaten on the game's first play by a Mike Wallace fly pattern was instructive, and the only time the defense impressed was when Baltimore coach John Harbaugh chosen to protect rather than fortify a two-touchdown lead in the second half.
 
In other words, this may be about confidence as Del Rio claims, but it may also be about overconfidence in what the Raiders are, and conversely, are not. Their offense is not "high-powered," and their defense was eminently blockable for the second time in three weeks.
 
Moreover, they have stopped creating turnovers – two in the last three games, which explains in part why they are averaging 51 plays per game, last in the league. But they are also 29th in total yards, 30th in first downs, 29th in third down conversions and only the win over the New York Jets away from averaging less than two touchdowns per game.
 
They are not, in short, as advertised, which is why Del Rio answered a question about Carr's availability next week, either for the Chargers or Chiefs games, by saying, "Yeah, I have that feel."
 
After all, Carr's healing gifts aside, the Raiders are already spending their margin for error too early. Whether that is confidence or underexamined shortfalls, the time for soul-searching is already nearing its end. They either do, or they do not. And time, she's a'wastin'.

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