Yikes! The 30-12 scoreline does not do enough justice to how soundly the Las Vegas Raiders were beaten in Chicago over the weekend.
Riding a two-game win-streak going into the game against a reeling Bears team with a rookie quarterback out of division-two Shepherd making his first career start, things were looking good for the Raiders heading into Week 7. The result on the field was jarring to say the least. This week’s Knee-Jerk Reactions reflect that.
Reality Check
There was plenty of reason to believe that the Raiders would continue their win-streak against Chicago and roll to a 4-3 record. At that point, it would have been time to start having a real discussion about Las Vegas’ playoff chances.
As they say, life comes at you fast.
Every flaw that the Raiders have was put on full display in the Windy City. Offensively, quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Aidan O’Connell did their best to match Jimmy Garoppolo’s ineptitude. It didn’t help that the offensive line continued to struggle.
We saw exactly how much that unit has relied on the defense all year just to put up 17 points. Las Vegas’ defense finally came back to Earth this week, and the inefficient offense did not have enough opportunities to score.
Speaking of the defense, Patrick Graham’s squad did everything they could to keep rookie Tyson Bagent comfortable. There was minimal pressure, they ceded the underneath passes all day long, and they couldn’t stop the run. Those last two were exacerbated by what was by far the worst aspect of the Raiders’ performance: the tackling.
Do the Raiders Know How to Tackle?
Seriously. Have they ever drilled it before? That was quite possibly the most appalling display of tackling that I have ever seen at any level of football. There are six-year-olds with better fundamentals than what the Raiders showed this week.
It is truly embarrassing. We are talking about literally the first thing that you learn how to do when you start playing football. Hit, wrap, drive. Much of what we see in an NFL game is far more complex than the majority of us understand. Tackling is not one of those things.
At this level there is no excuse for that many missed tackles. It comes down to both a lack of focus and a lack of desire. Both of these things come down to coaching. The players clearly aren’t being held accountable to pay attention to detail. That lack of attention to detail also suggests that players are not bought in. It all reflects poorly on those in charge.
Fire Everyone
This may seem kind of rash considering that the Raiders had just won two games in a row. However, after a performance like that, it’s warranted. Also, do not let those wins fool you—Las Vegas has been playing poorly all year. It was the result of a series of poor decisions by the Raiders’ brass finally coming back to haunt them.
At this point, the time for excuses for this regime is long past. The braintrust of Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels have their systems and their players in place. The result has been mediocrity at best.
A great example of this is the quarterback position. Without even comparing to the last guy, the three signal-callers that this regime brought in this year have all been bad. Their fit for the offense has not mattered one iota. It is time to admit that any offense that fails to properly utilize both Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow is not a very good one.
It is not going to get much better, and that goes for both sides of the ball. Even when the defense played well, they struggled to get off the field. When the offense is at its best, they still struggle to score points.
How long of a leash is this regime going to get? After the 2021 season, Raider Nation was told that a wild-card loss wasn’t good enough. It sure feels like the organization has taken several steps backwards since then.
*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images