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The Las Vegas Raiders are reinventing the wheel when it comes to figuring out how to lose games. In a season full of baffling losses, the team may have just had their most baffling. Facing an injury-riddled Los Angeles Rams team on Thursday Night Football, the Raiders gave up a game-winning touchdown pass by Baker Mayfield, who had less than 48 hours to learn the playbook.
There are many little things that Las Vegas could’ve done to seal the win but a considerable amount of coaching mistakes took center stage. While defensive coordinator Patrick Graham deserves a fair share of criticism for the collapse at the end of the game, head coach Josh McDaniels isn’t without blame. He came into the game with a shockingly conservative game plan. Heading into the matchup, the Raiders were throwing for the ninth-most passing yards per game and Davante Adams was on a tear.
McDaniels decided to have Derek Carr throw just 20 times all game and Adams had only three catches. The Raiders gave up on trying to score points in the fourth quarter and the coach even thought it was a good idea to give fullback Jakob Johnson his first career carry on a critical three-and-one prior to the Rams’ game-winning drive. There have been calls to fire McDaniels all season and it’s hard to see how owner Mark Davis can justify keeping the coach.
Even some former NFL stars don’t think the coach will keep his job much longer. Three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Dez Bryant believes there’s a chance McDaniels gets the ax.
Six-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Gerald McCoy was with the Raiders last season and doesn’t see how the coach can survive another historic loss.
McDaniels Having Historically Bad Season
McDaniels is in his first year as a head coach with the Raiders. First-year head coaches often lose a lot of games. However, it’s the way in which he’s losing that is most concerning. In the history of the Raiders, there has never been a head coach to blow a 10+ point halftime lead more than four times. McDaniels is only 13 games into his Raiders tenure and he’s already matched former head coach Art Shell in blown 10+ point halftime leads with four.
That statistic doesn’t show that McDaniels is the first Raiders coach to blow a 20-point halftime lead and also lost to Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday, who had never coached in the NFL before.
Doesn’t Appear Mark Davis Will Fire McDaniels
For a moment, it appeared that the Raiders had finally turned things around. They were on a three-game winning streak and there was even talk of them getting back in the playoff mix. With the loss to the Rams, the playoffs are an almost impossible goal. Despite all of that, owner Mark David doesn’t appear ready to fire McDaniels.
The money aspect of the situation is likely overblown but it would be a tough pill to swallow for Davis. Not only would he suffer the embarrassment of admitting he botched his head coach hire, but he’d also have to pay McDaniels a lot of money just to not coach. It’s not an ideal situation to be in so Davis will almost certainly run it back. The only way he could change his mind is if the Raiders somehow figure out to hit new lows.
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