Colts Gameday Thread
Well, here we are AGAIN. Waiting for something good to happen, for hope, for signs of progress. Trying not to watch a season get away from us yet again before it's really even started. What else can I say? GO RAIDERS.
posted by Raider Take at 10:23 AM
32 Comments:
Not watching the game today (a rarity) but I see the score. Clearly, there are no signs of progress. The Colts with Daniel Jones have badly outscored the Raiders. I heard there was a kickoff returned for a TD by the Colts that got called back, but the Colts methodically marched down the field and scored another TD. The Raiders appear to have no answers.
They go from bad to worse, but it's impossible to say it's in the name of progress. There's zero evidence of that.
Yeah, NY, it's bad, and it's systemic across defense, offense and special teams
Geno picked, followed by Colts score to go up 32-3. Raiders were 4th and 1 and Jeanty stood up in the backfield. How do the Raiders recover from the demoralizing fashion they will lose this one?
Excuse me, 40-3 now. Apparently, I'm not typing fast enough.
9 Interceptions on the season. Time to bench Geno and start Pickett. Time for Chip Kelly to get creative.
Raiders OLine still can't block to save their lives. Defense and Special Teams look just as bad. At this rate, we should have kept AP. Horrible, horrible, horrible
Bob Raider
Why is it ok to not gamble? If a guy is picked to lead and make decisions but gas no experience as a scout but picks our GM and, I guess, tells staff what to do- why are we not seeing Raiders announce big office changes in who leads and why won't they get some talent to at least try to look like they can win games and can be a good team or it's a pro team? Whyarent we asking for a meeting, town hall and aren't hearing of clupset owners and coaches?
I will preference my post with a simple truth. Pete Carroll told us it might take four games for the team to get settled in. Game 5? 40-6.
Honestly, the Raiders have reached a level of pathetic I didn't think possible. But I don't believe we should blame players. These are the players management and coaches assembled. The new regime had ample time and resources (10 draft picks and league top-10 cap space), and this is what they gave us.
We were just talking about organizational failure. It may look different, but the turnstile of GMs and coaches and resulting swapping out players to fit scheme has left little opportunity for success.
The problem is, we are the only historians on the scene. We're the ones who have watched them repeat the same failures for literally decades. It's like everyone in the building is oblivious to it. They just keep shooting from the hip and repeating the same mistakes.
Yet, here we are, in exactly the same place we hoped they could help us avoid. So far, none of their answers are the right ones. But be careful what you (we) wish for. This new group (led by Tom Brady) thinks they're smarter than past regimes. Their partial tear down looks like a failure, so be forewarned there may be more to come.
Jakobi Meyers is probably as good as gone, even though he's their best WR and the Raiders have little chance to get more than a compensatory pick. And JPJ is not a system fit for Pete Carroll, even if he's a monster in power blocking schemes (which seemed to be his natural direction last season).
But what happens when they convince themselves that a complete overhaul is needed and they trade Crosby for 2 first round pics (which they've epically wasted in the past)? Crosby is the heart and soul of the Raiders team and its organization. Crosby is the only heartbeat the Raiders organization has left, IMO. He's the face and the voice! If and when he leaves, a lot of folks will be checking out, maybe yours truly. The Raiders will have "officially" become Vegas's team; you know, the home team (and stadium) that tourists go to see their favorite (visiting) team while they're in town.
If I may make an analogy. The Raiders are "The Shining," and Pete Carroll is Jack Torrance, who is next to get his image embedded in the ballroom photo.
Can the Raiders possibly tarnish the career of a legendary head coach and sink their own team (and org) further into the abyss? It's a valid question, as they are potentially on their way to doing just that.
No sense in trading for draft picks when all Raiders do is draft shitty players. Didn't Spytek's 10 year old son pick Jeanty. I used to cry, but now I just laugh.
Every team in Raiders division has a first round draft pick at QB,(Mahomes, Herbert, Nix). Not the Raiders. When was last time Raiders used a 1st rounder on a "QB of the future" ? Oh well, Raiders figure they can just get a QB on the cheap.
Gino Smith is horrible, but AOC, and Cam Miller were also horrible in the pre-season. Starting to think this has something to do with Chip Kelley's, bland, vanilla, predictable, offense. It's the stinker of all time !
Raiders may not win a division game again this year. And may not win any half, home games either. I call them half home games, because the stands are half filled with the other teams fans.
Take, I think yesterday's blowout in Indy was clown car worthy. Fire up the engines, the season is young.
The Raiders coaching so far is woefully inadequate, and the results are inexcusable. Only five games in and they're already competing with the winless Jets for next season's #1 pick.
Had a blocked punt in our own territory to eventually give Colts a 14-3 lead. Down 14 to 3 and the Raiders driving to a TD to put us back in the game, and Geno has a pass batted up and picked. These 2 plays changed the game. His second pick hurt too, don't get me wrong, but a TD instead of an INT there could have swung momentum back our way.
Couldn't block on Offense or Special Teams, couldn't stop anything defensively yesterday. Some of that may have been fatigue from a bunch of 3 and outs, some of it, and early in the game, was missed tackles and coverage (i.e. giving up a first down on 3 and 13).
Ghost, clown car for sure....
Love all of the voices chiming in here! We gotta hold some feet to the fire - and yes, the CLOWN car's key is in the ignition.
I miss Gruden. Sandy
Just a thought, but is everyone still clicking the ad on the right side of Raider Take home page to help RT out with the expense of keeping this blog up and running? The ad site that appears on your screen is one you visited before, or it wouldn't be there. Hit it when you come here. It won't help the Raiders, but it helps RT. No purchase necessary.
Just saying. In the midst of the worst run in NFL history, RT keeps this site running. His record is far better than the Raiders.
Cheers to anyone still putting up with the Raiders crap. God bless!
Don't worry Sandy, I'm sure Mark Davis is already plotting his next brilliant move. Gruden III, Belichick, an AI robot of Madden. The hamster on a wheel is spinning in MD's head right now.
Nate, one of Raiders problems on defense is that on running plays, they are playing with only 9 men on defense. Because their corners are the worst I've ever seen at tackling.
#36, Kyu Blu Kelly, doesn't even pretend to want to make a tackle. His uniform is as clean at the end of game, as when game started. And the corner on the other side aint much better. The 9 man defense, another great idea by the Raiders.
Ghost, that makes sense. I thought their job on run defense was to get "blocked" by the WR and be pushed backward.
On the note of Gruden III, I am excited about the ruling Nevada Supreme Court made about discovery. We are going to see League emails that led to his firing. Make no mistake, this was a "cancel culture" fire; and it may end up costing Goodell his job. They are trying so hard to get Gruden to settle for an unspecified amount of cash; but Gruden has said multiple times he won't settle, he is in it for answers. NFL about to get served! Maybe it will reveal a League conspiracy against the Raiders for all of Al's lawsuits, even though Mark dropped them all.
Nate....That's interesting about Gruden. But I wonder, if Mark Davis does come knocking once again, and wants to hire him, and the NFL says it will clear the way for it to happen as long as Gruden drops his lawsuit. I wonder what Gruden would do ?
NYR...yes, lets all keep on posting, clicking, supporting. The lights are on here at RaiderTake. This is the real eternal flame that can hopefully lead the Raiders back to glory one day.
well said
You guys are the best! Together we stand though the Raiders may fall. Just like last year, and the year before that, and they year before that, and...
This is never a good headline:
"Raiders are Back to the Familiar Place Where Their Head Coach Sounds Crazy at the Microphone."
Honestly, what can Carroll say? The team they assembled (coaches included) isn't good enough. And with $66M in guarantees, the Raiders can't afford to bench Smith, despite the chants for Pickett... and now there's already talk of getting Cam Miller reps.
This season went south as fast as it started.
Pratt released, Geno Smith playing horribly, no run game, no run defense, special teams giving up big returns, blocked kicks....
The Raiders still reside in a place where "it can only get better" and "it's time to get back to the basics." Or is it "time to compete?" I forget.
Is the great Pete Carroll over his head? Is Carroll stuck with Chip Kelly like Pierce got stuck with Luke Getsy? I'm giving him 50-50 shot at figuring this out before he's the next to get fired. Honeymoon be damned, I don't think Mark Davis or Tom Brady signed up for what we're witnessing. The Pats game was a fluke. Fool's gold.
Hondo Carpenter: "Make no mistake, the debacle on Sunday sits squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. I'm not willing to call out one player, because the coaching staff, when everybody looks that bad, that's on coaching. Everything rises and falls with leadership.”
The article goes on to say the Raiders are not void of talent, which I agree. IMO, the coaches have grossly underperformed... and they keep coming back to the plate and whiffing at the same pitches.
NY, Hondo is hitting the coaching staff hard the past few days, and so far is the only one. Don't blame him, because I feel the same way.
I still believe the dysfunction starts with Mark Davis, its difficult for me to believe that Pete Carroll has forgotten how to coach, and Spytek has forgotten how to build a team.
Not sure why you think I was blaming Carpenter. I was agreeing with him.
NY, I didn't think that, and agree with you. Hondo is the only beat reporter blasting the coaching staff. Everyone else is focused on Geno.
But let's look at the coaching failures so far:
Looking to pass more than run the ball offensively
No creativity or adjustments on the offensive side of the ball
Not getting any QB pressures, hits, or sacks because you have Maxx dropping back into coverage
CBs are not tackling, they are shoulder hitting and bouncing off
Trying to play a 3-4 defense with 4-3 defensive players
The JPJ mess, not too mention the lack of blocking from the O-Line
Not playing to the strengths of the roster you have
It's like players and coaches who come here to the Raiders forget how to play and coach. Its a complete clown show, and Hondo is the only one calling out the right people, the coaches and Mark Davis.
It's amazing the degree to which the new regime has already failed in terms of personnel, scheme and execution.
Here's another headscratcher to add to the long list. Thorton Jr. has 5 receptions in five games. He's the Raiders WR2. How's that even possible?
The Raiders are bush league. The coaches not only lack solutions, they appear to lack common sense. Perhaps the bigger problem is behind the scenes, and we don't know who's really in charge. Maybe internally they're battling too many cooks wanting to be head chef.
He is not 2 he is third on the depth chart behind Meyers and Tucker and going forward he will be fourth behind Jack becht. Sandy
Pretty sure Tucker is slot WR. Meyers and Thorton are X,Y
Doesn't change the fact that Thorton's been out there for most plays over five games and has five total receptions on the year and nobody is even flinching. It's business as usual. That's dumbfounding.
This group has no solutions.
We've seen lesser coaches do better with less talent.
Really you have seen coaches do more with lesser talent? Which team? I have not seen it on the Raiders. Perhaps you are overating the talent. The team sucked last year and deserved to be torn down. This 2025 team has a new GM, HC,OC, QB, Rookie RB, entire new secondary and lbing room, reshuffled o and d line. The expectations many fans have are just too high. This is a rebuild that is going happen through multiple good drafts its the only way in the modern NFL to have a successful franchise. Nopw are they playing poorly on top of all that yes but I would put that on Geno and no Broke Bowers which would have meant 2-3 anyway which is more or less where I thought they would be tracking to 7 or 8 wins. Let's see if some of the new players and coaches gel. Genty looks like real talent. Sandy
In recent memory, we saw Rich Bissacia and Antonio Piece both step in and do better.
My bigger concern remains the same. How can we expect a 5-year rebuild in a 3-year window. So far, the Carroll regime looks like the McDaniels regime, and I don't think that's an exaggeration. All we have yet to find out is, can Carroll pull himself from the abyss, unlike his predecessor who could not.
If somehow Carroll can pull off his Vegas miracle, he will need to do better. So far, I think it's fair to say, coaching is a valid concern.
Sure, eventually Carroll might pull it together, or he'll have to answer some questions. Like:
-why did he jettison his two massive interior D linemen?
-for that matter, why did he allow his entire defense to leave?
-why did he keep 7 LBs and 7 DTs on his final roster?
-why did he sign Pratt then dump him 4 games into the season?
-why did he move JPJ from his natural (First-Team All-American) position?
-why did he trade for Geno Smith? (that one's looking pretty bad right now)
-why is he playing Thorton over Bech and continue to do so even after Thorton has proven ineffective?
Honestly, these Qs just scratch the surface. There are many scheme and playing calling conundrums too.
Wonder what Mark Davis and Tom Brady are thinking.
Bob Raider
Why is it- we got the brains and leaders but don't need to give and take(use leaders but get top players in draft and by trade and free agency) thing?- every year we go with the promises and stories. Mark deserves some blame, fans should be wanting answers and more success from him but he hired football people to build team and they are the ones who make the moves. I thought we had the elite coaches and Brady to build and lead? So why blame Mark? They do know better than this mess and actions so why is this happening? Is there some plan to stick draft picks or make a huge trade after the season? Is tanking for some big run next year but to build from high draft picks the plan? Is it one of the leaders owner, Brady or co owners to rebuild for a playoff run next year? Or a rookie QB?
I know it's too early to say this, but I've been thinking it, so I'm going to say it. Maybe Pete Carroll had his day. Pete had a solid run in coaching, although didn't he leave college amid NCAA sanctions that USC was compensating players like Reggie Bush? Obviously, he won a SB in Seattle. But no HC does it alone. Carroll had Russell Wilson in his prime, not the shell of Wilson that the Steelers and Giants acquired. Bill Belichick had the GOAT.
Fresh-out-of-retirement-Pete found Geno Smith. So far that's gone south. Under Chip Kelly's guidance, Smith is an INT machine who's frequently seen heading to the sidelines to pout. But it's not all Smith's fault. The defense can't defend and special teams can't stop returns or blocked kicks. The Raiders level of ineptitude at all phases of the game so far has been surprising, to say the least.
Honestly, five games into 2025 and this is easily one of the worst implosions we've seen in the last 2+ decades of failures. The Raiders won a spirited but sloppy game against the Pats, then went full implosion. Coaches have had no answers. Actually, the Raiders may have gotten worse with every game.
IMO, this weekend isn't a statement game. How can it be? It's for survival. Survival of coaches integrity and players dignity.., hell, survival of a locker room which Carroll will soon lose if he continues to have no answers. Pratt could be just the start of a chain of cuts and trades that will likely ensue if it gets any worse.
So will it get even uglier this weekend, or can they demonstrate a modicum of professionalism and grit and show us that they can in fact compete, like their new mantra suggests.
"It's time to compete"
The bar is low!
Funny, I ran across a post which someone quoted Pete Carroll as saying, "this is not a rebuild." It's not? In that case, we're really screwed.
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