Five Postgame Takes
1. The more things change, the more they stay the same, so fire up the Clown Car! I have also included a screenshot from Arian Foster's first-quarter touchdown romp. Look at the Clown Car, look at the screenshot, and let me know if you notice any resemblance.
2. This isn't just a matter of being 0-2. It's how we got here, with a weak effort against the Jets, and a beatdown by the not-so-mighty Texans in our home opener. We are clearly bad in all phases of the game right now. At this point, it's looking like we'll be lucky to win four games.
3. What is it about the Raiders that turns a perfectly competent #2 receiver from the Packers like James Jones into a bumbling, careless double-fumble offender? Alameda is like the Bermuda Triangle, where fundamentals go to die.
4. Derek Carr will likely be fine. I think he has the ability and mindset to be a cornerstone quarterback. But he's been thrown into an awful situation. He's like the lone beacon blinking through the dirty fog of a vast wasteland. He deserves better.
5. I said it before, but it bears repeating: No matter what situation Reggie and DA walked into three years ago, there's simply no excuse for a lack of improved performance after three years of (alleged) culture change, two full drafts and a free agency period with tons of money to spend. So either things will improve, or we'll be watching the end of the Reggie-DA era in slow motion as the season progresses.
posted by Raider Take at 8:06 PM
55 Comments:
Those 5 Raider defenders really do look like the Keystone Cops. Its getting so watching the Raiders is crap duty more than an exciting enjoyable event. Maybe the Pats will...Oh never mind.
Fire Allen and Veggie now. The season is over. The team is absolutely terrible. This may be the worst Raider team I've ever seen, and that is saying something. Other than drafting Carr, what decisions by Allen and Veggie have panned out? Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and that's 1 time more than Allen and Veggie combined.
I am a brit who has followed the raiders for 30 years ive been to the US 3 times and have been to over 20 nfl games live and this start to the season is the flattest i have ever felt as a raider fan.
Those defenders in the screenshot. I still don't think they were chasing the running back.
They were chasing a small mouse that was loose on the field.
Looks like we're the "Dumbest Team" in America again.
And you can throw in the GM & HC this time too.
Raiders are the worst at everything. And I'm afraid things can even get worse.
I’m sure there’s a simple explanation.
Last week it was the daunting task of a rookie QB playing against a Rex Ryan defense (which, by the way, yielded over 30 pts to Greenbay yesterday). This week, it was defending a Ryan Fitzpatrick-led offense. Fitzpatrick has owned the Raiders in his career, mostly as a backup/journeyman QB.
Will the anomalies ever cease?
So far, the Raiders have yet to produce any competitive football (win or lose).
Have we returned to the days when players from other teams regard playing the Raiders as an extra “bye” week on their schedule?
Reggie has destroyed the team. Does anyone doubt the d-line would be far superior with Desmond Bryant, Sims, Shaunnesy, and Houston that what they have now.
Reggie cleaned house and replaced mediocre players with crap players. Same thing in the secondary.
Seriously guys the Raiders will be awful next year as Reggie will again be totally replacing the DBs and DL. Just like he did this year.
Sandy
Couple that with the fact that free agents do not want to come to Oakland. Oakland has been labelled by the players (and mediots) as the place where your career goes to die.
This is reversed by how you draft and bring in young players, which is something the Raiders haven't been good at.
The players that I am impressed with under this regime:
Sio Moore
Derek Carr
Gabe Jackson (monster)
Khalil Mack
There the list ends....
The two (or does the double fumble count separately? If so, then it's 3) fumbles came at a costly time in the game as the Raiders Offense started clicking and driving to get back in the game. Had we scored on those two plays, I think it would be a different story this morning.
But woulda-shoulda-coulda again. Deplorable play from the Raiders WR's yesterday. More deplorable play from the secondary not named Charles Woodson. More deplorable play by the defensive front to not get pressure on the QB.
The only good news beside Derek Carr was the O-line really looked good against a strong Texans defensive front 7. They looked competent against the blitz, and against one of the newest star defensive guys, JJ Watt. Carr looked comfortable in the pocket for the majority of the game.
Allen and Tarver are not aggressive coaches. They look scared to take risks, and they look lost as to what comes next. Olson's play calling yesterday was more gutsy than against the Jets. The call for Carr to bootleg was epic! Should be the play of the game for the Raiders. It gave me chill bumps watching that play and brought energy to the Raiders offense, only to have it muffed by a two fumble-bumble play by a veteran WR.
What also bothers me is you have four strong veterans on the D-Line (Smith, Sims, Tuck, and Woodley) who seem to have forgotten how to pressure the QB with this young, lost DC. The way the defense played yesterday should show that it is not the players, but the coach. The defense has the talent, even Rogers, Brown, Chekwa, Branch, and Woodson in the DBs are talented enough to show a better presence on the field.
This game was lost by poor defensive play, and second rate WRs pretending like they are #1 WRs. Derek Carr will probably take the blame again for the coaches for the loss this week.
Will the Raiders ever turn things around as a team? Not as long as Dennis Allen is leading this team, and not as long as Tarver is leading the defense.
Just Burn It, Baby!
This may be worse than the Shell-Bed-n-Breakfast regime. This is shaping out to be an 0-16 year.
Just Burn It, Baby!
Raider Nate
I agree with many of your points. But characterizing Smith, Tuck and Woodley as a strong group. Or saying our DBs are talented is a stretch. Yes 7 years ago the D-Line would be a terror and the DBs would be above average.
But today every guy you mentioned with the exception of Sims (who should be a rotational guy at best) is washed up. I don't believe Rogers, Brown or Chekwa start on any other NFL team.
Your point on the four impressive players I agree with. However, the jury is still out on whether any of them they can be long term starters never mind pro bowlers.
But it say a lot that in 3 seasons Reggie has yet to draft or sign a pro bowler or high end NFL starter. Maybe Mack will get there and if Carr is the future that is a huge piece.
However, after three years you have to say Reggie is a complete failure. He has whiffed on the QB, hired a HC way over his head and blown a bunch of draft picks and FA signings. He is doing almost as good a job as Goodell
2016? maybe not! :)
There was another time when the Raiders were the oldest team in football. But then, our old players on the verge of retirement were Rich Gannon, Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, Rod Woodson and Charlie Garner.
The veterans McKenzie has brought in are nowhere near that quality. Hue Jackson had an 8-8 team that was the youngest in pro football even though it was loaded with injuries.
Where, oh where is Jones at? He could have quite possibly choked to death on crow meat.
Bryan
Davis was making every effort to build a team from the bottom up. He had committed to a total youth movement, and the team was slowly on the rise and came up a game short of the playoffs. If Davis hadn't died, I believe they'd have been in the playoffs in 2012. But that's water under the bridge. I believe what Reggie has done is set us back an additional four years. Without some immediate changes, it could well wind up being another decade.
In my mind, Mark Davis should put Reggie on notice. If Reggie cannot build sufficient confidence that the team will be fully competitive next season by the end of this season, he'll be fired.
That said, McKenzie should put Allen on notice that if the team comes back from London 0-4, Allen should just go home.
But then there's the problem of who should be the interim HC. While many here believe it should be Sparano, I think the team needs some energy, the excitement of youth and the belief in something new.
But then, we're dealing with a midseason replacement that is potentially temporary.
We've done this twice before. When Shanahan was fired, Shell was low key but well known and liked by the team. In fact, most of the team had played with Shell. When Kiffen was fired, Cable was energetic, claiming he'd found his dream job. Over two seasons, that energy brought us to 8-8 with a virtually talentless team.
So, both times in our past the offensive line coach bailed us out.
But I have to say that I have a nagging feeling that absolutely nothing will be done or said until the season is over. Then both McKenzie and Allen will be back.
TV broadcast showed an interesting graphic during the game which demonstrated how much better the Texans have drafted than the Raiders... Watt, Cushing, Clowney, etc.
It's pretty apparent Raiders have not drafted well until perhaps this year.
Hayden is an injury bust, which comes as no surprise given his circumstance leading into the draft. Pre-RM, McFadden is clinging to a career that never took hold. His goal is to simply stay healthy so he can sign another contract next year. (Although, he showed flashes yesterday of being an aggressive RB).
Look at some of the other top picks... Michael Huff, Rolando McClain, DHB, JaMarcus Russell, Fabian Washington and Robert Gallery. All failures for the Raiders, and the list goes way beyond the 1st rounders.
One game should never define a team but somehow this one did just that.
Woodson summed it up best, saying the Texans game was an “embarrassment for the team and its fans.”
It certainly was that, but largely because it’s a microcosm of the last 12 years.
-It sucks that LAST YEAR'S team would whip this year's team's ass.
-It sucks that Khalil Mack and Jadaveon Clowney had just about the same impact on yesterday's game.
-It sucks that our biggest offensive play of the day was a leftover from the Terrelle Pryor playbook.
-It sucks that the offseason is actually the best part of the year for Raider fans, but we never seem to realize it at the time.
-It sucks that Justin Tuck and Lamaar Woodley haven't been able to see the field yet this year. (Wait, they've been playing!!??)
- It sucks that this whole shit show may go down in history as the "farewell season" in Oakland.
-It sucks that I plan my weekends around getting kicked in the nuts every week.
-It sucks that our current owner did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to get to where he is today and has absolutely NO IDEA what he is doing. (The whole GM hiring process was an embarrassment. I probably don't have to remind you that Mark only held ONE INTERVIEW for the job, and let's face it, Ron Wolfe could have told him to hire Magic Johnson and he would have done it in A SECOND.)
And by the way, in my opinion, there should be absolutely ZERO difference in "seat temperature" when it comes to Reggie & DA. It doesn't matter who coaches this team when your GM whiffs on 5 out of every 6 moves he makes.
-IT SUCKS.
I believe that the Raiders' problem over the last decade or so isn't with the draft choices but with coaches. Davis' draft philosophy was that you draft based on the intangibles that cannot be taught. For instance, you can't teach speed, but you can teach a player how to catch, how to get open, and how to cover. You know... Fundamentals.
Cable and Jackson were the first Raider HCs to really dig down and preach fundamentals since Flores. Gruden never taught fundamentals. He just went out and signed FAs destined for the Hall and then ignored the rookies.
I really believe that some of our "bad" picks were just mishandled by the coaching staffs. Gallery is a good for instance. He had three different coaches at the same time telling him to play three diametrically different ways. Michael Huff was played out of position for two years and then switched back. Plus there were always some lower round picks who turned out very well.
My point is that it's easy to say that the problem is poor drafting when often the problem is poor coaching and poor development programs.
The most annoying thing said by Allen after the game was that he was "surprised" by the way the Raiders played. It's my opinion that an HC should never be surprised by the play of his team, good or bad.
The one relief was that we didn't hear the coaches or the players make the usual ridiculous claim - "We're just a play or two away from dominating."
According to Scott Bair, Allen is on the hot seat, and that Davis has "privately" expressed his displeasure. He also says that we do have Sparano waiting for just this possibility.
Personally, I don't think just making the change to Sparano will have any noticeable effect this season.
Sparano is not going to get it done either. We need an experienced HC that will impact this team and play to it's strengths the way Hue did. This was my worry in the offseason, and I had hope that DA and his staff would change. But now I'm not even sure they know how or what to change because they are the problem, not the players.
Anonymous, Brown and Rogers started on a very talented 49ers team last year, and lost their jobs to their backups after injury. Tuck, Woodley, and Smith were quite effective with their teams last year as well. So to say that I'm stretching their talent ability is absurd. These guys are talented, and have started in their roles with other teams. Though Woodley is at the end of his career, and Tuck isn't far behind; they still bring experience and strength to get the job done.
If you go back and look at the game yesterday, you will notice a lot of "non-calls" of holding and use of illegal hands by the Texans O-line against these guys. Not blaming the refs for the loss, but it was obvious a lot of flags were held in check for Houston.
I'm still a lifelong Raiders fan, and I will never be as loyal to any other team in any other sport as I am to the Raiders. But something has to change, and it starts with this coaching staff.
Just Burn It, Baby!
Another quote from Charles Woodson further proving it is ineptness in coaching:
"'I think the mistakes are correctable, but we said that last week. So how many weeks in a row are we going to say mistakes are correctable before we get to a point, I guess, when we realize that they’re not correctable? I don’t know. Are they correctable, yeah? But from when do they get corrected? That’s what we’re trying to figure out.'”
I have not been this pissed off this early in the season as a Raider fan.
When you have the players talking about this the way they are, the coaches may have already lost the locker room.
Reggie, we've been patient now for 12 years! Enough is enough, either Dennis can swing it around or he cannot. Right now, the latter stands to be the case.
IMO, Raiders need to come out this week against the Pats and put everything they have on the field. This game, more than any other, is a fight to regain respect and integrity... it's gone well beyond wins and losses.
I agree NY, failure to do so would show clearly that this is not the coaching staff.
If you keep changing the players and the result is the same year after year, it's the coaches. After three years of watching the clown car drive into town on week 1 and park with no intention of leaving, I've concluded that it's time to change the coaches/GM. So glad I didn't waste money this year on Game Rewind.
LGR
There is a two point case for removing Allen.
1. Has he brought anything to the Raiders? The answer is no. Correct me if you think I'm wrong.
2. We can all see that Carr is the real deal. Finally we have franchise QB, and we want him developed "the right way." The last thing we want is to do kill his spirit, and we risk killing it making him accept responsibility for this train wreck. That's what killed his brother's spirit in Texas.
You guys are very low on Sparano and I wonder why. He took a Miami Dolphins team in 2008 (?) from 1-15 to 11-5 within one year. No other HC in the history of the NFL did this before or after. The O-Line is playing decent this year and it's in his hands. No way will he be worse than Allen. Promote Saunders to OC, he at least knows how to use DMC and Reece, and the fix is in.
"absolutely nothing will be done or said until the season is over. Then both McKenzie and Allen will be back."
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BR, I believe Allen is in the last year of his contract.
So bringing Allen back would require signing him to a new, multi year deal.
I cannot see this happening, although the Raiders always seem to surprise.
As far as Reggie is concerned. I do not feel confident in Reggie hiring another HC, or running another draft for the Raiders.
When Reggie dismantled the 8-8 team. He took a route akin to an expansion team. And we know how hard it is to build up an expansion team. It was a foolish mistake.
And even an expansion team is granted the number one overall pick in the draft. An advantage the Raiders did not have.
So Reggie's first decision as Gm, was to dig himself a deep hole.
His 2nd decision was a poor choice in picking a HC.
So, Reggie is still digging. Only in the wrong direction, and it is now obvious to all.
Allen is officially on the media's hot seat countdown, aided by the words of Charles Woodson.
PFT link:
http://tinyurl.com/ounrb43
Right now is a defining moment in Allen's career. If he fails, he will likely end up a career assistant, like so many Raiders HCs before him.
Meanwhile, Sparano is hands down the most experienced and best choice to replace Allen as interim HC. Saunders has experience but I really question his desire to be a HC again. Not even sure I would make him OC.
Allen was signed to a four year contract. And when he was signed, McKenzie said that he knew Allen would go through some tough moments, but he expected Allen to serve out his contract.
The wrap on Saunders is that he is not a good play caller. When Saunders has been employed as an OC, the HC has called the plays.
So if you want Sparano and Saunders, Sparano must be able to call his own offensive plays - but that still doesn't help the defense.
And when you say that Sparano brought the Dolphins from 1-15 to 11-5, you're leaving out the larger part of the story. The top brass in Miami say they are much better without him. The 11-5 season was his first, so the previous regime might still have had something to do with the improvement. Especially when you consider that Sparano couldn't win more than 7 games in any season thereafter.
00, you're right about Reggie's first two decisions. His first 1st round draft pick wasn't a big wow either. How can you draft a kid on a hospital bed when you're determined to start from scratch.
Okay, we're playing touch football in the park. I'll be one of the captains and make the first pick. I'll take the guy in the wheelchair.
Then - Veldeer is considered the best football player on the entire team, and he doesn't even bother to make a reasonable offer before he's picked up by the Rams.
As for Allen, if ever again says that we need to get the ball to the playmakers I'm going to throw something at my TV. Reese got the ball on ONE PLAY yesterday.
BR, thanx for the info on the Allen contract.
So Allen is under contract for the rest of this season, and all of 2015.
So this being the case, I would go in a different direction if I were Mark Davis.
I would not fire Allen right now, but instead, fire Reggie Mckenzie at the bye week.
This is what the NY Jets did. They hired a new GM, John Idzik, with HC, Rex Ryan having 1 yr left on his deal.
They let Idzik make the call on Ryan. He kept Ryan, but only gave him a 1 yr extention, I believe.
This is the only fair thing to do.
Because if you let Mckenzie make the decision on Allen. Then you have to leave it to Reggie to hire to new HC.
And in that case, the circus, disaster, bad joke, of Reggie's tenure will continue.
We've already lost next Sunday's game, and here's why.
Tuck: “Well it starts at practice. We have to come in here on Wednesday with a different mind state. We have to come in here ready to work because we have a tough one going out to New England."
Both Rich Gannon and Derek Carr can see the problem in that statement. The mind set doesn't start in practice on Wednesday, it starts on the plane ride home from prior game while looking at film. It starts in the weight room on Monday morning.
Tuck thinks he's only supposed to work Wednesday and Thursday, travel on Friday, brush up on Saturday then a three hour game on Sunday.
How do we tell him that the whole rest of the league is working harder than he is?
After two games, the Raiders are the least penalized team in football. Someone in the league office must have just found out that Al Davis died.
This is from a Miami fan:
"Good heavens. Tony Sparano? You’re kidding, right? Only the Raiders could be this pathetic, that they keep picking up other teams’ has-been players, AND coaches. I had assumed that Sparano was coaching back down at the high-school level now, after the malaise which was his time in Miami."
Not to fear, Reggie just signed another injured player.
LoL...Reggie is always scouring hospitals, near, & far, looking for the best available talent.
If you're on your deathbed, don't despair. You could end up with a contract offer from Reggie.
The Raiders have no identity as far as I can tell. There's no signature anything to this team and its personnel.
Contrast that to a team like the Eagles. The head coach is all about creating an explosive offense. The GM goes and gets Darren Sproles in the offseason for a fifth round pick as a cheap and perfect fit for the coach's offense. Then we all watch as Sproles goes berserk on the field. Philosophy, fit, identity.
Meantime, our head coach comes from the defensive side of things, and our defense has stunk throughout his and Reggie's tenure. There's no sense of a philosophy or identity being exerted upon this team from the top down.
RT, that and the fact there's not one aspect of the team that doesn't need drastic improvement.
It's EVERYTHING!
Sad to even imagine the Raiders looked better this time last year, led by Pryor and with Veldheer on temp IR nursing a triceps injury.
The Raiders haven't had an identity since Gruden was here. To use your example, Take:
Bruce Allen goes after Tyrone Wheatley, Rich Gannon, Charlie Garner, Jerry Rice, Bill Romanowski, Rod Woodson, and Sam Adams to fit in with Tim Brown, the O-Line (Kennedy, Robbins, Collins), Beikert, Nnamdi, C-Woodson, D Russell, and Janokowski.
But that's the question to the current problem:
Does Reggie know what kind of identity he wants the Raiders to have? If so, does Reggie know how to build that identity?
I think it's obvious that Reggie has an idea of the kind of identity he wants the Raiders to have. He wants the old school Raiders toughness back. You see that with players like Moore, Mack, Branch, Carr, and Gabe Jackson, but he cannot completely build that identity because proven players do not want to come to Oakland until there is a proven change of culture (which starts in the draft).
This is the first year where his draft actually meant something; but last year's picks should have been just as equally impressive and it is not. So the answer to the latter part of the question, he knows how to build the identity, but only through veterans that he desires. Now that he has to rely on draft, he seems lost.
It's obvious that DA has no clue how to create the identity with the players here. You have to coach to the player's abilities, not your philosophy. That alone has been what has ailed the Raiders since Gruden left, that was briefly revisited when Hue was here as OC and HC. Make no mistake, it was not because of Tom Cable that the Raiders went 8-8, it was because of Hue Jackson as OC.
That is true, NY, unfortunately!
Yesterday, Dennis Allen had a presser to talk about the loss to the Texans.
DA said, "Ultimately what I thought this game boiled down to is: They ran the ball on us when they wanted to run the ball on us. That’s a mentality."
Wrong, it's a coaching issue. Not having a scheme that puts your players in a position to make the play is coaching.
DA also said, "Third down is an area that we’ve got to continue to work to improve on. We were not very good on offense on third down. They were very good offensively on third down. Kept drives alive, won the time of possession battle because they were able to run the football, because they were able to convert third downs. We’ve got to get out to a faster start."
Again, this is a coaching issue.
Finally, "We’ve got to do a better job fundamentally of getting off of blocks and being able to make plays when we get the opportunity. Then, we’ve got to do a better job of making sure that we’re fitting everything exactly right."
Yet again, another coaching issue, which is fundamental to the game. To not be able to grasp the fundamentals of your scheme, either you are too lazy of a coach, or you are not utilizing the strengths of your team. Either way it tells me you do not know what kind of talent you have on this team or how to utilize their talents, therefore, you should not be the Head Coach. Time to move on.
JUST BURN IT, BABY!
Does this sound like a guy who's been on a well coached, organized and motivated defensive unit dating back to OTAs and training camp, or a guy who's been in a ho-hum environment and is suddenly trying to make up for lost time:
“I think a lot of times you overlook the little things and those are things that come back to bite you in games,” he said. “Shedding blocks and using your hands up front. Making the right checks to getting everyone in the right position. In this game, you can have ten guys in the right position and that one guy, it just always seems like the ball finds that one guy.”
Tuck said he himself didn’t play well against the Texans, and that’s where it all starts as far as being a leader.
“I have to get my game right,” Tuck said. “Like I said, I didn’t play well on Sunday myself. So that’s where my leadership will start; making sure I do everything in my power to go out there and help my team win, and that starts on the field. That starts at holding myself accountable; being enthused and energetic on the football field. Those are things that rub off and guys see. …
“Even in the days that you feel like crap; going out there with a smile on your face and letting the people know that you’re there to work. Those are the types of things guys notice and those are the types of things that guys follow, so that’s something I’m definitely going to work to be more adamant about, flying around practice. If I have to take scout team reps this week, I just want to get back to the winning and sometimes that is at any cost necessary.”
Marcel Reece not being productive is a great example of how bad the coaching staff is. Do you remember with Hue, Marcel was a complete mismatch for other teams and a serious weapon
Indeed! Reece has stepped up at virtually every opportunity, and he's the Raiders' only pro bowl player, yet he's invisible in Olsen's offense... one opportunity on Sunday.
Reece's non-involvement is stupid! After 2+ years of the same thing, the coaches are absolutely blind to it. It’s become nauseating listening to Allen and Olsen explain week in and week out why Reece is not more involved.
I could maybe understand the hesitation to involve the FBs if other facets of the offense were clicking but WRs can't separate from coverage and we can't run the ball. What gives?
Florio posted this today with his NFL power ratings:
"32. Oakland Raiders (No. 32; 0-2): The Raiders aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. Somehow, they’re worse."
If we are 0-4 after London, Sparano needs to take over the rest of the season. If nothing else it sends a signal that the status quo is unacceptable and everyone is playing/coaching for their jobs in 2015 and beyond. A new, aggressive, playing to win ATTITUDE starts with the Head Coach. Sparano is a no-nonsense, fiery leader.
I hear everyone calling for Allen's head and it is well deserved. But how does everyone feel about Reggie. I think a huge part of the problem is that you can count the Raider impact players (not future potential) on one hand. Wiz, Reece, sorry I ran out of names.
Reggie is the bigger problem
CJ & Anon,
Whatever happens this year, I do not have confidence in Reggie picking the next HC for Raiders.
And I do not have confidence in Reggie running the draft.
SCAR
I was hoping to have the opportunity to write posts saying how improved the Raiders are this year...Nope,,,, I was wrong. The Raiders aren't any better. They are a grease fire.
The 1 and only improvement Dennis Allen has brought is less penalties so far this year...Whoopdie doo!!!
Gotta say, the nagging feeling from the time I got to see The Raiders live when they played in Charlotte against the Panthers has proven right. Dennis is an uninspiring man...I was hoping I was wrong, or this guy could make up for it with his x's and o's.... Nope....
From here on out, any success, that may come from this team goes to the players will to win...Do they have it? Not so sure.
At this point, I have zero confidence that DA has the ability to turn this ship around( and that makes me sad as f**k.) I expect DA to get the ax at the bye, if not sooner, and now,,,,Reggie McKenzie,,,the hot seat is squarely on you. Show what you got, or get shoved outta the building too.
SCAR
I think McKenzie has been average at best. He's either drafted some good/potentially great players (Sio Moore, Gabe Jackson, Khalil Mack, Derek Carr), or he's completely busted (DJ Hayden, Watson). In bringing in Free Agents, he did bring in some tough football guys (Donald Penn, Justin Tuck, Antonio Smith, Howard) but he completely whiffed on the Running game and WR's.
Though the D-line he has brought in are good players, they seem to have forgotten how to pressure the QB, and plug the gaps; which tells me that DA and Tarver are not utilizing the talent.
What I like about Reggie is he is not afraid to take a risk on guys, but he has to use a little more common sense in taking risks. What I don't like about him is the hesitancy to bring in a "big name" player that is going to make an immediate impact. He has made some questionable moves, but overall I like the overall vision he has, and I can start to see the kind of "tough football" players he is looking for with the likes of Mack, Moore, Carr, and Gabe Jackson. I think he just needs a coach who will coach with that aggressive mentality.
That is my opinion about Reggie.
Raider Nate, I agree with most of your take on Reggie. He's a gambler but I wish he'd take more calculated risks than big risks. Let's see, his first year, he brought in basketball players. Wasn't that one of our biggest complaints about Al was that he brought in track stars who didn't know football? Well, RM liked basketball players who didn't know football. Then he brings in Brits who'd only played a year or two of college ball. And a guy who almost died on the field. Talk about magical thinking!
However, when he's not taking such leaps of faith, he's been decent (but not outstanding). Sio, Derek, Gabe, Khalil (I predict he'll do great after the bye) has been solid picks.
And somehow, DA thinks it's attitude that's been a hindrance. It's the coaching and the plays called.
LGR
McKenzie and Allen have football acumen but both have made mistakes while learning their respective first-time roles (that’s what Davis bought into when he hired McKenzie). It really boils down to how long of a leash Davis wants to give them to learn on the fly.
Regardless, there needs to be a plan. Davis can’t just fire McKenzie, and McKenzie can’t just fire Allen unless there’s a plan of action. Sparano seems like a logical replacement as interim HC; but who do folks think will replace McKenzie?
These guys look like the problem but the bigger problem may be Davis not having a solution.
Win or lose, it’s incumbent upon Allen to get the Raiders on track over the next two weeks. Putting the same product on the field will almost certainly get him fired, and rightly so.
He was very subdued in his Monday PC, while obviously disappointed. This is frustrating for everybody!
What do you want, NY. First Al Davis is the problem because he interferes, now Mark is the problem because he doesn't take charge.
Don't worry, when people start getting fired, ESPN, PFT, and nfl.com will all chime in on how Davis is starting to interfere just like his father and he needs to sell the team.
Easy there, BR. No need to put words into my mouth. It's my opinion that a viable solution should precede action. The lack of a viable solution, should that be the case, is not inherently Davis’s fault.
I would love to be the GM for the Oakland Raiders. I don't have the experience, but I do have a knack for talented players and coaches, especially at the expense of someone else's dime.
With that said, my first move as GM would be to axe Dennis Allen, and find a Head Coach whose philosophy is to build a game plan around the talent already in the team, while focusing on bringing in players who will not only compliment the current talent, but help improve it.
Is that a good contingency plan. If so, when do I start?
New take is up: "Bye" Bye
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