NFL
By: Brock Vierra
It would be a bit premature to say it’s over but the Josh McDaniels era is over in Las Vegas. I do feel bad for Dave Ziegler and maybe he might survive the firing of McDaniels but I believe both are different sides of the same coin. The offense is too pedestrian, the defense is prone to get beat over the top and the lingering issues that have plagued the Raiders since 2017 have yet to be fixed. To say I was disgusted at Josh McDaniels after Sunday Night would be an understatement, down by eight late in the fourth quarter, McDaniels decided to kick a field goal on fourth down. However, his offense was granted a reprieve when the Steelers committed a 15-yard penalty on the field goal to give the Raiders a first down. After a series of questionable play calls, the Raiders were still down 23-15 with 2:25 left on the clock. On 4th and 4, McDaniels decided to play conservatively and kick the field goal. Having three timeouts, he felt his gassed defense could deliver another stop. They didn’t and the Raiders lost. It was the wrong decision and everyone knew it from the jump. That’s a fireable offense.
See Josh McDaniels is not a good head coach and we’ve known this. The problem is that he’s worse than every football fan on the planet. We’re not playing Monday morning quarterback, we all knew what the right thing to do was in that situation, and yet, McDaniels didn’t. Now McDaniels has been praised for his work with Tom Brady in New England but now when he’s in Vegas and while Mark Davis has given him more resources than the Patriots ever did (in terms of building his own offense), he didn’t believe in his own guys. Not his own QB who he spent over 70 million dollars on and who he selected over franchise legend Derek Carr. He didn’t believe in Davonte Adams who he traded for and then gave 141 million dollars to. He didn’t trust the NFL’s leading rusher in Josh Jacobs, he didn’t trust Jacobi Meyers whom he gave a three-year deal to and he didn’t trust himself to call the right play on fourth down. Well if you can’t trust all the guys you wanted and if you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust? He didn’t trust Michael Mayer or Austin Hooper, the two tight ends he brought in to replace Darren Waller and Foster Moreau so I have to ask, why does he still have a job?
The ball was in his hands, he’s an offensive-minded coach and he decides to give the responsibility of winning the game to the defense? Sounds a lot like he isn’t ready for the moment. The Raiders are now 1-2. Jimmy Garoppolo is in concussion protocol. Davonte Adams is making some concerning comments that questions his long-term commitment to the Raiders and their only win was a 17-16 victory against Denver who just let Miami score 70 points on them. Brian Hoyer is the backup because McDaniels doesn’t have the courage to give Aiden O’Connell the opportunity to prove himself and the defense remains a big question mark outside of Maxx Crosby and Marcus Peters. We’re still waiting to see progress in Tyree Wilson’s development, Chandler Jones is experiencing major off-field problems, their linebacker room continues to be below standard and please don’t get me started on the DB room.
The problem for the Raiders is that Mark Davis wants to be his Dad but he can’t be and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Mark Davis loves the Raiders just like his pops, he appreciates his players like his pops and his commitment to trying to bring back the success of the early 2000s is both commendable and idiotic. See Al would do what he wanted and towards the end of his life, it hurt the Raiders. However, his track record when it came to head coaches in the post Tom Flores era was even worse. Firing Art Shell was wrong, firing Mike Shanahan was wrong. Hiring Art Shell back was wrong, just like the hires of Lane Kiffin and Norv Turner. With Josh McDaniels, it feels like the Raiders are going back in time to where they had both a new starting QB and head coach every year.
What Mark needs to do is stop trying to hire people that his late father would approve of and start hiring coaches that fit the modern NFL. There are a bunch of talented coaches that have yet to get their opportunity and he needs to pull the trigger before another franchise snags them. He needs to hire a GM who will finally address the issues with this roster and build a team from the inside out.
For McDaniels, it’s over. He is a liar, a cheater, and a team obliterator. Every day he is in the Raiders building is a day that the players don’t want to be there. He’s lost the team, he’s lost the fan base and all he does is lose. Pack it up and stop trying to do things your way. It doesn’t work. Oh and by the way Josh, Hunter Renfrow is still on your team. Maybe use him some time like on third and fourth down instead of kicking field goals and constantly telling your team to keep their heads up after losses.
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