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Let’s be honest, folks, McDaniels’ playbook was outdated, there was no creativity, and overall, the concepts just didn’t work in the current NFL landscape.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
(by GTHANG)
Firing McD was the only way to get Jimmy benched. It took too long but I’m thrilled to have that guy gone and to see what the kid AOC can do.
We need a leader of men who is accountable to those men, something McD will never be. He sold Mark Davis a bill of goods and walks away with a sack of cash to assuage his bruised ego. Good riddance.
If Pierce turns the team around, we should give him a legit shot at the gig.
By Tony Brucks
When you make a lame-brain game plan and steadfastly refuse to make ANY adjustments before or during the game YOU ARE AN IDIOT wrapped in a moron. And the reason you dont is because of your over inflated and misplaced ego.
The first thing a coach must know and must do is make a solid and sound game plan. THEY MUST FIRST know how to do this and be correct about it. It takes hard work and dedication to your job to do it properly and correctly. It takes hours watching game films and studying to formulate a sound game plan with avenues for in game corrections.
Josh McIdiot was not capable of doing any of this. He especially was not ANY good at play calling for the offense. The ONLY reason it worked in NE was because of Brady. NOT because of Josh McIdiot or even Billichick.
Unfortunately the Raiders Organization(Mark Davis) got duped by a marginal New England bunch who were riding of Bill Belichick’s coat tails for years. The New England brand is not the Raider brand and it should have never been brought to Las Vegas. To put it simple, Raider Nation does not eat clam chowder. Raider Nation would rather shuck the clam and eat it raw while riding in the pirate ship sipping on Rum. There was too much rhetoric and excuses for piss poor football. I encourage Mark Davis to embrace the Raider Legends and get input on who would be the most bad ass, fierce, competitive, proven pirate to win in the deep waters of the fourth quarter, and higher that outlaw. Mark Davis must learn from his mistakes and realize that regardless of what happens in the future Raider Nation appreciates getting rid of the scurvy dogs.
It wasn’t the players, it was JM. He thought he knew what was going on, and he didn’t have a clue. Jimmy Garoppolo? Give me a break. Start over from now on with with Eden build the team correctly. Not just with you as the manager. thanks, but with the whole team feels. Duh.