The insertion of Jarrett Stidham into the starting lineup seemed to unlock the potential of what a Josh McDaniels offense could look like with weapons like Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Josh Jacobs in the mix.

Stidham got those players involved early and often, showing off not only his mobility but a grasp of the system that made the Raiders look as explosive as they have all season.

All of the success they enjoyed Sunday, even in what was eventually a 37-34 overtime loss to the 49ers, made it fair to wonder whether some of the lulls the offense experienced this season were caused by former starter Derek Carr’s relative inexperience in the system.

McDaniels quickly rebuffed that notion during his weekly Monday news conference when he was asked whether Carr was slow to grasp the offense and whether that held the team back this season, Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

“I don’t think that at all,” McDaniels said. “I have a lot of things that our offense can do better, but that’s not very high on the list of things.”

Stidham engineered the offense’s most productive game of the season through the air and led them to their second-highest total yards against the top defense in the league in the first start of his career.

McDaniels, who was his offensive coordinator the past three seasons in New England, wasn’t surprised because of how well he has gotten to know Stidham over the years.

“First of all, he’s a great human being,” McDaniels said. “I think he gets along really well with everybody. He’s a very honest guy, works really hard and loves football.

“Obviously, he sat and watched a lot of football in the few years that he’s been in the NFL. And I think there’s a lot of people yesterday that were happy that he had an opportunity and then made the most of his opportunity.”

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