Jimmy Garoppolo thinks the Raiders have worked towards fixing mistakes

Justin Churchill — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Sep 21, 2023 7:02 PM EDT

The Las Vegas Raiders had more than just a few issues on Sunday when the Buffalo Bills blew them out. Of course, the defense was pretty bad, as they didn't get any pressure on the quarterback, and the secondary couldn't hold it down either. However, we knew that might happen.

We didn't know that the offense would stall out as badly as it did. The first drive was great. The Raiders scored, and the offense looked the way it was supposed to.

Then, things got stagnant.

Several things happened. All of those need to be fixed before they play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, or that defense will tear them apart, too.

Maybe they have fixed some of it.

"Oh, yeah. And I just said it after the game: a lot of self-inflicted wounds, just things we could correct, though," quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. "I thought we had a pretty good day out here doing that. Really, it's about getting guys on the same page, getting us into a rhythm, and things will take care of themselves from there."

The offense cannot do that again. They have to make sure they establish a run game this time, especially with Josh Jacobs doing the bulk of the work. Last game may have been his worst game ever.

He finished with -2 rushing yards on nine carries. He is the focal point of the offense. The run game sets up everything else, including the big plays downfield to the talented receivers like Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers.

But it doesn't look too great if the run game isn't there and the Raiders are playing from behind. They then have to throw the ball more, and the defense knows it's coming. The offense becomes more predictable.

So, when Garoppolo says they cleaned some things up, that's great to hear. You'd hate to see the Raiders get embarrassed again, but this time on national TV.