It shouldn’t shock anyone, but now-former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels admitted that the offense just wasn’t on the same page. He said what everyone was thinking, but why did it take this long? At least, if nothing else, McDaniels acknowledged his offensive unit was not in sync—more importantly, there didn’t seem to be any solutions, ultimately contributing to his firing on Tuesday night.
For as much as McDaniels was heralded for being the architect of the once-mighty Patriots offense, that success never translated to Sin City. To be fair, Bill Belichick hasn’t fared any better in his post-Tom Brady stage. When you see what the Raiders are fielding on offense, you have to feel pity for Raider Nation.
Josh McDaniels, Jimmy Garoppolo, and the vaunted Raiders offense…
Let’s be honest, folks, McDaniels’ playbook was outdated, there was no creativity, and overall, the concepts just didn’t work in the current NFL landscape. You have Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Hunter Renfrow, and Tre Tucker—where are the explosive plays? Clearly, the success of his “system” is attributed to a particular future Hall of Fame quarterback and not McDaniels. So, where does that leave Jimmy Garoppolo?
“Jimmy G” has arguably been one of, if not the worst, starting quarterbacks in the league. An NFL-leading nine interceptions certainly helps substantiate that claim. In terms of what went down on Monday Night Football, McDaniels made a few notable observations to the media, namely with regard to the offense as a whole (and the aforementioned interceptions).
“All interceptions come down to execution and decision-making. And at the end of the day, it starts with reading the coverage. It starts with the quarterback, the receivers, and the tight ends being on the same page. Protection obviously has something to do with that. Yesterday’s case was just a read where we threw it into double coverage, and we can’t do that. Again, I think when you try to press and you want to make plays happen even though the defense plays something or does something that maybe takes away your first or your primary option, you just have to be patient enough even though you want to make those plays happen.”
Have we seen enough of Garoppolo?
Well, one thing’s accurate: if you take away Garoppolo’s first option, you’ve pretty much iced him out. More often than not, it ends with him taking a sack, as he did against the Lions. As the Raiders head into Week 9, the lack of execution continues to cast a shadow on the Silver and Black.
Whether you ride it out with Garoppolo or plug in rookie Aidan O’Connell, will it matter? With Josh McDaniels being relieved of head coaching duties in Sin City, this team is going to go through many changes behind closed doors. Will the Raiders be able to rally behind interim coach Antonio Pierce? It’s possible, but it’s no easy task.
*Top Photo: Fox News Today