The Raiders Bug?
I ask this in all seriousness: Is there a Raiders "contagion" or "infection" that maybe explains the past 20 years?
How can we allegedly significantly upgrade at GM, head coach, QB and RB (and special advisor in Brady) this year plus Bowers and still look the same as the McDummy regime, Pierce regime, and on and on.
Like, it's not only the same RESULTS, but also the same WAY of losing. I mean, how many TIMES have you seen a dumb close loss just like this one against the Bears, or a no-show just like we saw against the Commanders and their backup QB.
It's uncanny and mind boggling. These are like clones of clones of clones of Raiders games past. Do new GM, coach and player regimes come in and catch a sort of Raiders bug?
posted by Raider Take at 9:22 PM
16 Comments:
Are you asking if the Raiders suffer from organizational failure? Then the answer is, yes. Mark Davis, like his dad (but for different reason), has a hiring and firing problem. Mark lacks vision and vetting. Lack of vetting highlights include usurping Reggie McKenzie's authority to hire Jack Del Rio, signing Jon Gruden to 10-year contract, going full-on Patriots with McDaniel and Ziegler, hiring Pierce without interviewing others (like Jim Harbaugh), hiring Tom Telesco... then firing Tom Telesco, and now, IMO, hiring a 74-year-old HC to do a 5-year rebuild on a 3-year contract with no chance of extension... which btw is off to an ugly start.
It's a system thing, too, made worse by upper management's rapid hirings and firings. The most obvious example is that the Raiders go back and forth between power and zone blocking schemes, having to swap out personnel every 2-3 years.
As I've said before, Pete Carroll has a tremendous career and vast knowledge to draw upon, but this is bigger than Pete Carroll. Now the Raiders have Tom Brady and other minority owners chiming in. Did we go from having nobody in charge to too many cooks? IDK.
I have to say, I'm a little stunned by Carroll's lack of answers, or inability to correct the same problems in 4 straight games. The Raiders have dumbed down their offense to a point which misdirection is only what other teams do. How many times have we seen the Raiders get "back to the basics" over the past 24 years? It's laughable and usually means the coaches don't know what they're doing.
But how can that be, it's Pete Carroll, right?
After drafting Bowers, Telesco drafted the best center in college and Pete Carroll has him playing guard. JPJ looked like the next man up in the Raiders long history of all-pro centers, Otto, Dalby, Robbins, Hudson. This is obviously a developmental season for the Raiders, so why not have the Raiders next franchise center learning his position? IMO, moving JPJ to guard is shortsighted and a colossal mistake by Carroll that could cost the Raiders for years.
So that's where we are. To borrow a phrase from Cousin Eddie, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
The Raiders are free falling in a bottomless pit with no end. There is no rock bottom, there is no bottom. It is not so much a 'bug", as it is a curse.
This curse spans the players, the coaches, and the seasons. The names and the faces change, but the curse remains, and losing is the always the final result...Always.
The only thing that can end the curse, I believe, is a break from the past. Douse the Al Davis eternal flame, end the Davis ownership of the team, and allow the Raiders to step out of the past, and into the present times. Allow them to become the "New Raiders", if you will.
I say this with a heavy heart. I loved the Al Davis era, but it can never be recreated. Everyone in the Raiders organization walks in it's shadow, and they can never live up to it, never understand it, never escape it.
I am not saying to erase the past, or forget the past, but just to not have so many reminders of it all around, all the time. The Raiders history is there, it will never be lost. But how do you make new history, while always having one eye in the past ?
The only way out is to break free, A clean break, without looking back. Let the new Raiders emerge. They can cut their own path forward, without carrying the weight of the past on their backs.
I have wondered the same thing, Take, and not just with the Raiders. I've wondered about this with the Browns, Jets, Titans, Cowboys, Cardinals, Bears, Panthers, etc.
I hate to say it, but I think Mark cares more about his WNBA team, and this "new found money" with the Raiders just adds to his wealth. He has to field a team, but he truly has no interest in the Raiders with the insult to he is not going to let anyone put a team together.
The organizational front is being put together by Sandra Douglas Morgan, but I'm not sure Spytek and Carroll are on the same page, and I'm not sure Carroll is going to move on from his nepotism hires at O-Line Coach and Asst QB Coach/Game Management sons.
The other problem here is the Carroll has brought back a lot of re-tread coaches too. Greg Olson, Joe Philbin, and in some ways Chip Kelly looks like a re-tread at calling plays (run up the middle).
We have talented players, and I will never understand the inability to building to the strengths of the roster you have. The last coach to do it was Del Rio and Musgrave. If we want a re-tread in a coach, bring back Musgrave.
By the way, Pierce's downfall was Tom Telesco. Pierce needed a QB, and wanted Jayden Daniels, Telesco said no. Telesco got rid of Jacobs, and other key figures. Your GM has to work with the coach, Pierce didn't have that. The other failure of Pierce was he had too many cooks in the kitchen.
BTW, Raiders still need a QB. Everyone talks negative about Carr, but look what the Raiders have done without him. I truly think it is time to give Kenny Pickett the rock. Just Prove It, BABY!
Love all of these, a lot to chew on, great insight! Makes me feel like I'm not crazy.
Nate, my understanding is that the Raiders went hard after Daniels but that was never going to happen. 6 QBs were off the board before Telesco drafted the best TE in football with the 13th overall pick two drafts ago.
Fast forward, we watched Skytek pass 7x on drafting Shedeur Sanders, who was thought by many to be a top-5 pick. I would say that's far more egregious, particularly, given the play of Geno Smith so far.
And Kolton Miller has a hairline fracture, most likely moving to the IR
Honestly, the Raiders have nothing in 2025. It's already looking like another disappointing year. We can call it a developmental season, but is it really? Looks the same. Smells the same. Tastes the same. Just the names have changed.
I agree with most of what you say with two exceptions. Firstly, I think the 10 year deal for Gruden was the right move to stabilize the ship. Before that we were not exactly a desired location for coaches largely because of the correct perception that we fire somebody every two years. Gruden acted like a guy with a 10 year contract and ripped the house down to the studs, including the Mack trade that I hated. But his teams got better every year and they were off to a great start in ‘21 before those emails dropped. If anything I blame Mark for rolling over and letting him go when Goodell turned up the heat, Al would never have cowtowed to the commissioner like that.
As for Pete having no answers, the biggest issue through three games was the O line and they played an excellent game Sunday. The D has been generally better than expected. Jeanty is special. The big issue right now IMO is the QB. If he doesn’t improve yes, I’ll blame Pete for having so much faith in the wrong guy.
I don’t reasonably see how Telesco could have swung getting Daniels to be fair.
This headline is incredibly ironic.
"Should Tom Brady and the Raiders Circle Back to Shedeur Sanders? "
Wow! It didn't take long for this story to circle back.
Raiders were drafting blindfolded by the time their last opportunity to draft Sanders happened late in the 4th Round. The last opportunity would have been with their 7th pick. They could have taken a flier without skipping a beat. They must think the Sanders kid and his dad are so toxic they didn't want either in the building.
Meanwhile, we still need a QB.
Probably the most troubling aspects of this new regime, in no particular order:
- NOT drafting Sanders with a meaningless late 4th round pick.
- Trading their best cover CB in Bennett (because he didn't fit scheme).
- Moving JPJ to guard (again, because he doesn't fit scheme).
None of these are insurmountable, but they all seem shortsighted, maybe even stupid. If, for some reason, Carroll decides JPJ doesn't fit ZBS scheme and they trade him away, the Raiders will have reached another level of stupid. The cycling of regimes continues to swap out players for scheme, then the Raiders bring in a new regime and new players. When Carroll's contract expires, the Raiders will almost certainly look to do it again. Doesn't anybody in the org see it? Did this one even escape the GOAT, or does he still need to catch up?
Or will the Raiders NEVER recover from this cycle of insanity?
The best coaching the Raiders have had in 24 years is when they scheme to the strength of players. Musgrave! Bisaccia! Pierce! These guys had the least coaching experience but the best results, if only for a short time (due to their limited resources). Nonetheless, it's not an accident.
Used picks and maybe future picks to trade up? When there is a will, there is a way.
Yeah perhaps. I love the player but worry about his durability. Nonetheless I agree in principle; we are way overdue to take a big swing at that position.
What is with your fascination about Sanders the guy sucks. Sandy
Wait, what? And Geno Smith is so much better?
Sanders has pedigree like nobody else. He is a work in progress and was well worth the Raiders 7th pick in the draft (which they chose not to). Folks keep telling me to be patient, Raiders are putting something together. Okay, let's find a QB of the future. Sure, it might not be Sanders, but it's sure as hell not Geno Smith (at least so far).
Raiders are status quo. Word on the street (so to speak) is that Carroll has no intention of moving JPJ back to center. What a shame. JPJ was census best center in the draft. And if memory serves me, Meredith graded really well last year at guard. Carroll is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, and even the media are calling him out on it.
So far, Pete Carroll is no better than the long list of coaches who have already failed the Raiders. Maybe I'm a terrible person for saying that, but what adjustments has he made to change the failures we've all witnessed? Is it just going to get better on its own? Can he and his staff coach up the players? If so, how long should that take? And can we expect other players to be cut or traded due to the fact they don't fit Carroll's scheme?
Next up! The Colts, who gave the Rams (a true playoff contender) all they could handle last week. If the Raiders go 1-4, which seems likely, we might start to see a dismantling of the roster, starting with Meyers. It's almost inevitable.
Don't shoot the messenger.
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