When your college football coach is drawing comparisons to Urban Meyer, that’s a good thing – as long as it’s a football comparison. When your NFL head coach is drawing those comparisons, that’s not a great sign, and that’s now the case for Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels.
Heavy NFL insider Matt Lombardo brought up the time former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer skipped a team flight home, and suggested that the Raiders “should have left McDaniels on the tarmac” in Jacksonville similarly to fend for himself. Lombardo wrote that the Raiders have reached a “crisis point” with their head coach.
“Sunday against the Jaguars, Vegas raced out to a 17-0 lead on the back of a pair of Davante Adams touchdown catches with 11:00 remaining in the second quarter. But, after failing score again following a Daniel Carlson field goal to go up 20-7 in the waning moments of the first half, the Raiders lost 27-20,” Lombardo wrote.
The insider went on to say, “At this point, it is becoming evident that the Raiders and McDaniels don’t know how to win.”
Lombardo cited blown leads of 20-0 against the Arizona Cardinals, 17-0 against the Kansas City Chiefs, and 17-0 once again against the Jaguars. It’s hard to fathom having the lead in three games by a combined score of 54-0, and emerging with zero victories.
With the Raiders sitting at 2-6 and extremely unlikely to make a run to playoff contention, Lombardo believes it’s now fair to wonder if McDaniels has a future in Las Vegas.
That said, there’s reporting out there that McDaniels’ job is safe. Of course, that’s easier to say with a .250 winning percentage in November than it is to say in January if that number doesn’t improve.
Raiders Struggling in Multiple Facets in 2022
A look at the NFL’s Game Statistics and Information System shows the Raiders’ ranking in every statistical category, and they aren’t doing much well. They’re in the top 10 in just two key offensive categories: Yards per rushing attempt (5.07) and interception rate (1.74%).
Defensively, they’re in the top 10 in just one category: rushing yards allowed per play (4.20). Meanwhile, they’re 28th in passing yards allowed per play, largely due to a futile pass rush (ranking dead last in sacks per pass attempt) and a secondary unable to force turnovers (28th in interception rate).
If there’s a formula to win in those numbers, it certainly involves a heavy dose of a rushing attack averaging more than 5 yards per attempt. But the Raiders have run the ball just 47% of the time.
Derek Carr & Davante Adams Still Struggling With Chemistry Through Week 9
Despite being former college teammates, quarterback Derek Carr and wide receiver Davante Adams have not been able to recreate their magical connection. Mark Anderson of the Associated Press pointed out that Carr is on pace for his lowest completion percentage since 2015, while Adams could miss 100 catches for the first time since 2019.
“Everybody’s going to try to create some division between the players and coaches just based off of different things that are said,” Adams told reporters on November 9. “But at the end of the day, it’s about making adjustments and everybody doing their job, and I think that’s where we have had some tough luck with this year is everybody doing their job at any given moment.”
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Insider Sounds Off on Raiders: ‘Should Have Left Josh McDaniels on the Tarmac’