Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels is currently besieged by a fanbase that’s sick of losing. However, he’s staying the course. In fact, he continues to stress the “big picture” aspect of it all as the Silver and Black sink towards the No. 1 overall pick next April.
When both McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were hired, they took over a team that had come off a brief playoff appearance. Despite getting bounced early, the Raiders appeared to be trending upward. After acquiring headline-grabbing talent, it certainly came across to fans that the Raiders we’re trying to win now. Unfortunately, the narrative has certainly changed. Enabled by a local media that’s clinging to the words of the coach and executive, the Raiders are planning for the future now. However, fans aren’t so easily fooled. A team that was thinking of “rebuilding” wouldn’t have swung to the fences by trading for Davante Adams. It just doesn’t make sense from a logical standpoint.
Josh McDaniels remains steadfast in spite of a disastrous campaign
Nonetheless, what’s done is done. McDaniels’ Raiders are 2-7, and between Derek Carr having an emotional breakdown and fans booing the head coach, it’s a disaster. As the team’s brass switches gears, they have to save face. Keep in mind that there’s still a lot of football left to be played this season. With a couple of days to process Sunday’s loss and with the Denver Broncos awaiting them, McDaniels spoke to the media today.
#Raiders coach Josh McDaniels: “When you change visions, or philosophies, or cultures, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) November 16, 2022
Coming off the heels of recent remarks by owner Mark Davis, McDaniels emphasized that when implementing large-scale changes, the results take time. What’s frustrating for fans is that a culture change was inevitable, but at the same time, this team was going to win now. Why else would you pay Carr to pair him up with Adams this season? Or why go out and spend major coin to lure Chandler Jones?
Speaking of Davis, McDaniels was very appreciative of his encouragement during this ongoing ordeal. Strangely enough, most of the national sports media doesn’t share that enthusiasm.
#Raiders Josh McDaniels, on owner Mark Davis: “I appreciate Mark’s support…we’re all here because of him and we want to do right by him…This is a longer-term view of, how do we get this thing to repeat?”
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) November 16, 2022Â
What should Raiders fans do?
Regardless, it certainly appears that the Raiders’ power trio is in it for the long haul. At the same time, how do you sell this to a fan base that was given false hope? On the other hand, the same talking heads that propped up the 2022 Raiders are the same ones that are currently tearing it down. Raider Nation has never had much love for the national media, so there’s that as well.
If there’s about to be a wholesale facelift of the Raiders, so be it. The question is, is there anything salvageable about this season? If the Raiders go on a run just to finish near .500, they will be out of the running for one of the top quarterback prospects next April. There’s so much at play here still for this organization. The Raiders would never outright tank, so what do they do now? Carr was explicit in his recent presser that he’s going to keep competing, week in and week out. All parties involved are saying the right things (mostly), but the catastrophe on the field says something else.
*Top Photo: Nick Cammett/Getty Images