Getty Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis.
Las Vegas Raiders fans aren’t happy with the team’s 1-3 start to the 2023 season and are starting to go directly to owner Mark Davis. During the team’s Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, fans told Davis to fire head coach Josh McDaniels.
The owner clapped back at the fans and told them to “smarten up,” which was captured by TikTok user @mrruba_hp on October 1. Davis also pointed at his head and told a fan to “use your head.”
Mark Davis yelling at fans to “smarten up” after being told by fans to fire Josh Mcdaniels #RaiderNation
Team owners don’t typically engage with agitated fans but Davis was clearly starting to get frustrated. McDaniels is now 7-14 since taking over a Raiders team that made the playoffs the season before he arrived. Davis doesn’t want to fire McDaniels despite pressure from the fans.
The Raiders had a strong start to the season with a road win over the Denver Broncos but have now lost three in a row. If things don’t turn around soon, pressure from the fans to make a major coaching change will only get stronger. Davis clearly is hearing the noise.
Does Josh McDaniels Have Mark Davis’ Support?
Last season, the Raiders got off to a 2-5 start, and the calls from fans to fire Josh McDaniels already started up. This led Mark Davis to come out and defend his head coach.
“Josh McDaniels Is Our Head Coach And Will Be For Years To Come,” Davis said, per an October 2022 X post from Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Davis hasn’t spoken to the media this season but he may need to come out and double down on his support of McDaniels once again this season if he plans to keep the coach going forward. The Raiders have had two winning seasons since 2002. Fans are frustrated as the team has become one of the worst franchises in sports.
The Raiders’ 20-year playoff win drought is the third-longest active streak in the NFL. The Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins are the only two teams with longer drouts but both teams have winning records right now and appear poised to break their losing streaks. That would leave the Raiders alone at the top of the longest droughts.
Josh McDaniels Discusses What Team Needs to Fix
If the Raiders’ season ended right now, they would have the third overall pick in the draft. Unless the plan is to get a quarterback early in the 2024 NFL Draft, the team needs to turn things around soon.
The Raiders have committed 28 penalties this season, which is the seventh worst in the NFL. They also have a -9 turnover differential, which is the worst in the NFL. Josh McDaniels believes that’s where the team needs to get better if they hope to start winning.
“As we talked about after the game, I mean, after watching the film, opportunities are there and we need to take advantage of them,” McDaniels said in his October 2 media availability. “Obviously, the biggest thing we have to do is stop contributing to losing with mistakes that we have control over, and most of those centered around turnovers and penalties. And so, we’ll keep working at both areas to try to play a turnover-free game, a penalty-free game. When we do that, I think the result will be a lot more favorable for us.”