Once heralded as an “offensive guru,” Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels has seen his reputation take a hit this season. The play selection and overall lack of trust in his offense have been disheartening. Is it time for a change? Should he step aside?
But first, let’s give some credit where it’s due.
Praise be to our “Short King” Amik Robertson.
Thanks to a stellar performance from their defense, the Raiders averted a disastrous 1-4 start to the season. Las Vegas defeated a middling Green Bay Packers team by just four points despite the defense securing three interceptions, a feat we haven’t seen from the unit since 2021. Though the team was victorious, a final score of 17-13 does not reflect the effort of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. For the first time since this writer still needed a fake ID to attend clubs in Los Angeles, the Raiders’ defense was reliable.
Josh McDaniels has repeatedly said the offense, which has yet to eclipse 20 points in a game this year, has plenty of things it needs to improve upon; but the true change needs to come at the top of the pecking order. McDaniels is a subpar play-caller, and it is becoming more evident by the snap.
History Shows McDaniels Struggles Without Tom Brady
Maybe that explains the push to make Brady a minority owner so quickly.
It is very easy to look at the utter lack of success when it comes to the Belichick coaching tree. Most fail immediately, while others have a season of success before falling off the nearest cliff expeditiously. Mark Davis and his brain trust don’t get the benefit of this being McDaniels’ first “post-Pats” go round. Josh was not only a head coach with play-calling duties once before, but he was also the OC for the now-former St. Louis Rams. Neither stop yielded great results.
McDaniels’ single full season in Denver saw an offense that finished 20th in scoring. That roster had a few weapons on it in addition to a Pro Bowl quarterback in Jay Cutler… Wait, McDaniels had Cutler traded before the 2009 season started because he felt his system would be good enough with Kyle Orton running the show. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? ‘JMD’ never came close to finishing a second run, as the Donkeys wisely canned him early in the 2010 season.
Undeterred by his objective, the Denver Debacle, the Rams brought McDaniels in to be their offensive coordinator in 2011. That led to a high-powered unit that finished the season dead last in scoring. Josh would then return to the welcoming arms of Brady, Hoodie, and the Pats in 2012 to be their offensive coordinator once again. This went swimmingly until Brady’s departure in 2020. Without Mr. 199 overall, the Patriots offense sputtered.
New England would finish 27th in scoring as McDaniels looked lost without Brady for the third time.
The Raiders Don’t Have A Proven Alternative
On paper, it seems like an easy decision for McDaniels to surrender the play sheet. However, the Raiders current offensive coordinator is an unknown quantity as well. Mick Lombardi followed McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler from the Pats, where he was the wide receivers coach. Lombardi does have experience with other franchises outside of New England in different positions, including assistant HC with the 2013 49ers; none of those stops saw Lombardi call plays.
The bright side to this is that Lombardi may have his own ideas as to how the offensive should operate. Giving the reins over to the 36-year-old could provide a breath of fresh air for a stagnant offense.
What do you think? Cast your vote below.
*Top Photo: Fox News Today
Does Raiders HC Josh McDaniels need to give up play calling duties before it’s too late?
— RaiderRamble.com™ (@TheRaiderRamble) October 10, 2023
They need to let jimmy g throw more down field, especially in the Red zone
(by GTHANG)
A lot of great points here, but I have to say Amik was beat on that play (and others) and any decent QB would have scored 30 on us.
The Jay Cutler/Derek Carr correlation makes a ton of sense. McD was so overshadowed in NE by Brady and Belichick he’s an afterthought. When people talk about the Pats dynasty, does his name even get mentioned?
Well, he’s a genius and he wants his flowers! He can’t have another QB taking all his credit, so he chooses the less talented QB so his system can be the star. The man just oozes insecurity.
If anyone could ruin Caleb, it’s Josh McDaniels. Caleb would be in the doghouse the first time he goes off script and throws a 50-yd TD.
He might help us get Caleb (or another talented QB), but he’s not the one to coach him.
100%. After we almost beat SF last year all JM could talk about was how his QB went offscript ad he didnt like it!
F this guy and his double chin!
Given time with the rookies via drafted offensively, and their ability to process his complex system and perform admirably, it’s only a matter of time before we’ll see the fruits of his labor.
Let chatGPT call the plays. Hell, flipping a coin would be superior to McDaniels. Love my Raiders but between Garoppolo and McDaniels I want to gouge my eyes out when I watch. He’s done a remakable job of destroying a top 10 offense. I’ll stop my rant there. 🙂
Yes please & soon!!!!
Yes
He should give up play calling, but he won’t…. He sucks!
It’s time to be fired.
The Problem is offensive, we have to be better on the on-line protection for Jimmy is utmost important. I’ve witnessed too many wiffs or miss blocks which gets Jimmy sacked an or leads to mistakes like interceptions also causes us to punt.
Nope. Wrong. There is a turd in your tea leaves sir.
Need to change McDanials title to waterboy!