Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly from week five loss to Chargers

Bad: Bruce Irvin

When things are going bad, things tend to go really bad. There’s a snowball effect as frustration mounts, and guys get tired of losing.

Rather than channeling that anger and frustration into something positive though, some players do mind-numbingly stupid things that cost the team.

Such was the case with Bruce Irvin this past Sunday. A vocal leader, and one of the steadier veteran presences in the Raiders locker room, Irvin is counted on to set the tone. Set the example. And show the youngsters the right way of going about things. He’s a leader on that defense everybody looks to.

And he let his frustration boil over, and his emotion to get the better of him against the Chargers, leading him to make a really stupid mistake.

With just six seconds left in the first half, the Chargers got the ball at their own 47-yard line. They quickly moved to Oakland’s 45-yard line. A hail mary pass fell incomplete, but a mind-bogglingly stupid, and wholly unnecessary roughing the passer penalty was called on Irvin.

This wasn’t one of those Clay Matthews, questionable as all get out, roughing penalties either. Irvin committed one of the most egregiously stupid penalties this season, and the Chargers got the ball at Oakland’s 45 with time to attempt the field goal that would have put them up 20-3 at the half.

He’s lucky the Chargers missed the field goal, and it remained a two-touchdown game at the break. So lucky. He’s fortunate the team did not suffer any consequences because of his stupidity, but that stupidity epitomizes the oftentimes circular firing squad, and mind-bogglingly stupid play of these Raiders so far this year.