McDaniels takes ‘responsibility’ after Raiders’ loss

NEW ORLEANS — First-year Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, fresh from a lengthy postgame meeting with team owner Mark Davis after the Raiders’ first shutout loss in nearly eight years, was only five words into his media conference when the room went dark.

Someone had leaned on a light switch.

The lights going out was a perfect metaphor for the Raiders’ showing in the 24-0 defeat. And McDaniels took the blame.

“I apologize to Raider Nation for that performance and, again, I own that,” McDaniels said. “That’s my responsibility.

“If you’re going to point a finger, point it at me. Obviously, I need to do a better job of getting us ready on game day.”

The Raiders, listless and lifeless, fell to 2-5 on the season, and back into last place in the AFC West after winning two of three games, including a seeming get-right 38-20 blowout of the Houston Texans last week.

But Las Vegas’ offense, which looked so in sync a week earlier, was discombobulated by a defense that entered the day allowing 28.6 points per game, the second-worst such mark in the NFL.

As such, the Raiders’ offense did not cross midfield until its final drive, when starting quarterback Derek Carr, who had been sacked three times while taking eight QB hits, was replaced by Jarrett Stidham as a safety measure of sorts.

“Embarrassing,” said Carr, whose 101 passing yards was the fewest of his career in a game he did not leave with an injury. “We are so much better than that.

“It’s going to be an amazing challenge to see how we respond as a team.”

The Raiders will spend the next week in Sarasota, Florida, practicing at the IMG Academy in nearby Bradenton before playing at the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) on Sunday.

Sitting on the sideline as the clock wound down on the Raiders’ Halloween weekend horror show in the Caesars Superdome, Carr said he had a similar feeling the last time the Raiders were shut out, on Nov. 30, 2014, in a 52-0 loss at the then-St. Louis Rams.

Carr was a rookie then, and the Raiders were coming off his first career win, after an 0-10, start, and they responded to the Rams blowout by winning another game.

“You can speak into something because you’ve been through it,” said Carr, who completed 15 of 26 passes with an interception and a 50.3 passer rating, the third-worst of his career. “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.

“But we’ve got to correct this tomorrow. We’ve got to flush it as fast as we can and get ready to practice. Because the only thing that’s going to fix it is on that practice field.”

Like figuring out how All-Pro receiver Davante Adams had just one touch — a 1-yard loss on a jet-sweep run — entering the fourth quarter and finished with one catch, for 3 yards, on five targets.

Urgency, Carr said, will be needed by the Raiders this week with the season on the brink.

“You hope that’s the last time [you get that kind of performance],” Carr said. “That’s what you hope.”

The first five words McDaniels uttered, meanwhile, before the lights went out?

“Obviously,” he said, “that wasn’t good enough …”

Enter darkness, before the light switch was flipped back on.

“Oh boy,” McDaniels said. “We’ll start over.”

He was talking about his personal comments, not the Raiders’ season.