The Las Vegas Raiders entered the 2022 season bubbling with optimism. Three weeks into the campaign, they are the only 0-3 team in the NFL.
Vegas lost, 24-22, Sunday to the previously winless Tennessee Titans after a late-game rally came up shy. The foiled comeback came a week after they lost a 20-0 halftime lead to the Arizona Cardinals to fall in overtime.
"Frustrated and angry," wide receiver Davante Adams said, via SI.com. "Expect more. It's not easy to win in this league. We know that. Nobody's naïve to the fact that nobody's just going to lay down and just give you a victory, but at the end of the day we expect more and we will do better as we move forward."
Reuniting Adams and Derek Carr was a big reason to believe the Raiders could battle in the rugged AFC West. After a big Week 1, however, Adams has been mostly contained the past two weeks. The wideout caught just five of 10 targets Sunday for 36 yards and a touchdown.
"We had a couple of shots at it, at some big plays today," Adams said. "And it's just a small thing whether there's a receiver not coming down with it. I had my foot on the line at the one on the sideline, or if it's some little small piece up front. It's always a fine line, like you said, so you've just got to make sure you do everything you can to execute in the moment."
The frustration over the Raiders' 0-3 start comes as Vegas has lost by a combined 13 points. For Adams, being frustrated can be a positive if it motivates change.
"Frustration is OK. It's not the end of the world to be frustrated," he said. "I don't think anybody in here should be happy or content with losing seriously, when you have the type of men we have in this locker room. And like I said from the very beginning, just because we're good on paper doesn't mean we're going to be great as a team. We're still working toward that, and it's still early. But we've got to start establishing who we are as a team. So, like I said, frustration is OK as long as you do something about it."
Since 1990, only 2.5% of 0-3 teams have made the playoffs. No team has made the postseason after an 0-3 start under the current seven-team playoff format.