The Las Vegas Raiders followed up a shutout loss with a remarkable offensive performance in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Unfortunately, the second half turned into a collapse that has sent the Silver and Black sputtering to a 2-6 start. Pro Football Hall of Famer and Raiders legend Tim Brown shared some of his thoughts following the demoralizing loss.
As a member of the last Raiders team that actually won a playoff game, Brown’s opinion is more than validated. Arguably the greatest receiver in the organization’s history, Brown offered both optimism and criticism. First, Brown pointed out the circumstances surrounding Josh McDaniels getting hired. As most recall, Rich Bisaccia and the rest of Jon Gruden’s hand-picked staff rallied the Raiders to a playoff berth. Despite coming up short, many fans wanted to see what this crew could do now that Gruden was out of the picture. From the outside looking in, it appeared that the locker room was fully behind Bisaccia. As Brown mentioned, “Usually, when a new coach comes in, it’s not to take over a team that made the playoffs that year! Josh may have changed too much. It’s not the worst thing; they will be better for it in the future.”
Will the Raiders be okay in the long run?
The issue that most Raiders fans have with McDaniels is the fact that he inherited a playoff team. That same team is now currently slated to have the third overall pick. It was a flawed team, yes, but one that fought back from much adversity. How do you go from a playoff squad to one needing a complete rebuild? As Brown reminded everyone in that same Tweet, Gruden’s rebuild took four years before it tasted any success, and the coach wasn’t even around to taste it.
Whether Raider Nation wants to admit it or not, their team is clearly missing Darren Waller. A polarizing player following an offseason where he received a new contract, Waller has been unbale to overcome a nagging hamstring injury. That was another point presented by Brown, “We are not good enough to play without one of the best tight ends in the league. Gotta get 83 back on the field.” Despite some struggles with drops earlier this season, Waller is the key to creating mismatches for the Raiders’ offense. That’s especially true for Davante Adams. With Waller out, he’s seeing opposing defenses zero in on him.
Speaking of Davante Adams…
Brown pointed out something else in his Tweet, a final point on Adams. Basically, Brown believes that No. 17 isn’t being used properly. It’s a notion that Kurt Warner also spoke about in his tape breakdown last week. Despite a dominant first half against the Jaguars (two touchdowns), McDaniels went away from the passing attack and tried to establish the run. Adams himself was questioned on the whole matter and said, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” There’s something off with this team; they simply can’t put together a whole 60-minute effort. A lot of that blame does lie in coaching and in-game management. However, Brown believes the team will be fine in the long run. The question is, is Raider Nation going to wait another three years if a complete rebuild is the path chosen?
*Top Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
