There’s simply no other way to say it: Josh McDaniels is driving the Las Vegas Raiders toward complete football oblivion.
Since becoming the head coach of the Raiders in 2021, the team’s performance has been beyond disappointing while painting a bleak picture that owner Mark Davis can’t overlook. The most recent catastrophe — a crushing 30-12 defeat by the Chicago Bears — that makes it even more evident the Raiders have taken major steps backward under McDaniels’ leadership.
Against the floundering Bears, starting Division II undrafted rookie free agent Tyson Bagent, the Raiders had no answers and seemingly looked unprepared. Bagent even outplayed 15-year veteran Raiders quarterback Brian Hoyer. Hoyer, who started in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, only managed to throw for 126 yards without any touchdowns, throwing two interceptions (one a pick-six). McDaniels simply made the wrong choice at quarterback. However, he insisted it was the right one.
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“Look, I’ve seen him practice every day, you know what I mean,” an irritated McDaniels said postgame. “I’ve watched him. I saw Aidan in the L.A. game. Had an opportunity to really understand what was going on there. Saw Brian last week in the New England game. So, just made a decision to try to go with the veteran guy and try to go out there and play a solid game. I’m not going to second-guess that.”
Las Vegas Raiders $102 million offense is a bust
Just like Garoppolo, Hoyer didn’t move the Raiders’ offense consistently and the team failed to score points, which has become an epidemic for this offense that is paid $102 million this season. Josh Jacobs rushed for just 35 yards on 11 carries and Davante Adams hauled in seven catches for just 57 yards. The offensive “genius” of McDaniels is fielding one of the NFL’s worst units.
The Raiders’ offense is like a ghost pirate ship — it’s dead, it’s vacant and it has no wind in its sails. The offense, which hasn’t managed to scored 20 points throughout the entire season, is an embarrassment.
What’s more concerning is that this is par for the course since McDaniels became coach. McDaniels’ tenure has already witnessed at least two other equally humiliating defeats, which speaks volumes.
Last season, McDaniels led the Raiders into a home game against an Indianapolis Colts team coached by Jeff Saturday—a coach who had recently transitioned from coaching high school and was making his NFL coaching debut—and ended up losing.
A few weeks later, Baker Mayfield, who had just been signed by the Rams and hadn’t even had an official practice with the team, effortlessly tore apart the Raiders’ defense. The McDaniels era has been one full of epic low moments for the once proud franchise. It doesn’t appear the coach, or the organization, seem willing to addressing the underlying issues.
McDaniels plan for the Las Vegas Raiders is simply a roadmap to failure
The Raiders under their coach seem unable to string together wins when they need them the most or against teams who themselves aren’t very good. After scraping by with a slim 17-16 win against the Broncos, the Raiders went on to suffer three consecutive losses. The other two wins came at the expense of teams who aren’t very good themselves. The Packers and Patriots wins were primarily closed out thanks to a defense that did play better for three games. But the offense hasn’t managed to score 19 points in seven-straight games and have only scored more than 20 points twice in the past 12 games dating back to last season.
That’s more than enough evidence to know whatever plan McDaniels has had, and whatever he’s doing, is simply failing.
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“I think we’ve had stretches where it’s been fine, very competitive,” Josh McDaniels said after the game when asked if after 24 games he needs to find a new approach. “But we need to find some consistency in all three phases. I think we have. I think we have some of that in the kicking game. I think we’ve had stretches where we’ve played competitively on offense and defense. Just not enough. Again, you’re asking the question to the one who’s responsible. I have to figure out something.”
Consistency in the kicking game? That’s your hallmark example of how your plan and approach are working. In a word, pathetic.
Owner Mark Davis must be experiencing déjà vu. His team is showing all the signs of entering another period of collapse. They’re not just losing, they’re being completely overwhelmed in games where they should least be competitive, if not win handily. The franchise is surrounded by an aura of embarrassment on the field. If Davis doesn’t take some action, and take it immediately, it will only intensify.
If Davis wants to avoid another dark chapter in Las Vegas Raiders history, things need to change—and quickly. McDaniels has had 24 games to demonstrate progress and show that the team is heading in the direction. It’s clear to the entire NFL he has proven himself incapable of leading the Raiders down the road of respectability.
The loyal and rabid members of Raider Nation, and the men who proudly wore the Silver and Black when it actually meant something, deserve better.