The #1 Problem with The Raiders
Friends, I'm going to let it rip. I can't hold back any longer.
I've been thinking a lot about this, and I've been running Raider Take for 21 years, and I've come to a conclusion.
My conclusion is simple: the Raiders organization suffers from a willful and institutional lack of smarts that starts at the top. I don't mean that as an offhand remark or a wisecrack. I mean it as something that is deeply embedded in the fabric of the Raiders.
In short, this isn't just an organization that continually makes the wrong decision. It's an organization that is optimized to make the wrong decision. In other words, the team's results are by design. I'm not saying the results are intentional, but rather that they're inevitable given how the organization is constructed and run. It is designed to fail.
What we have seen lately is far beyond a spell of bad luck, or a case of on-the-job ownership training (those excuses have long run their course). It runs deeper than mere folly or error.
Quite the opposite, in fact. What we are seeing comes from the actual design of the organization. What we see over and over again is an effort to merely correct mistakes, when, in fact, the organization should be un-designing why the same mistakes keep being made again and again.
This is why nothing has been fixed after all of these years, coaches, GMs, coordinators, high draft picks, free agents, etc. This is why, in fact, after all of these "efforts" we are now witnessing the saddest Raiders season in 20 years, and perhaps the saddest in the organization's history when you take everything into context.
In the NFL, you are either rebuilding or building. You are either aiming to re-frame the house for a brighter future or adding rooms, appliances and amenities to improve upon an already solid frame.
But if the architect is stubbornly hapless (a dangerous combination), then you end up adding rooms to a poor frame; ordering appliances that don't fit into the cabinetry; ignoring leaky pipes; and chasing fixes that don't last for the long term. And then when you do finally decide to rebuild, it's done poorly and the whole shebang begins again.
This is the Raiders under Mark Davis.
Also, when is the last time you saw Mark Davis express any sort of regret, blame, shame or extreme ownership of the organization's chronic state of failure?
And so yet again, after everything we've been through over the past five or so years, we end up overpaying for another mediocre QB, hiring another coach who's already a dead man walking, firing new coordinators midseason, drafting an RB in the first round only to play him behind a historically awful offensive line, and fielding yet another defense that is the definition of meh.
I know that all of this sounds harsh. But I share it in the spirit of tough love. I want what's best for this team. They are part of my history, my family, my nostalgia, and the friends I've made right here at Raider Take over the years. I wish I could be ever sanguine like Sandy--wait 'til next year!--but this season has become a bridge too far.
Please share this post with other fans. We need to all get around the proverbial campfire and figure out what we can do, starting with being honest with one another, and with the organization and the Raider Nation. We need to stop blaming Pete Carroll, the offensive line, the coordinators, Geno Smith, etc. They are mere symptoms of a chronic ailment, the fault firmly lies elsewhere.
We need to air this topic out thoroughly before any talk begins about our next head coach, the 2026 draft, what to do at quarterback, who to sign, etc.
And so my conclusion leads to a question: What should be done? Or perhaps more specifically: What can be done?
As fans, we can't make a material difference, at least not quickly. We're not going make an immediate impact. But we can be heard. And if we're noisy about it, who knows. Off the top of my head:
-Stop blaming coaches, players, GMs, etc. We're well past that until there is a much bigger fundamental shift at the top.
-Demand better from the organization, and speak with your wallet until that happens. Get the f*** off the crazy train until the conductor shows you some respect.
Chime in and rip me if you like, either way get it off your chest. It's catharsis time.
RT out.
posted by Raider Take at 10:36 AM
6 Comments:
RT,
Thank you for the thoughtful post — it’s excellent.
I’m not as hard on Davis as some others. If you look at his tenure as owner, it really breaks into three periods:
1. The Reggie McKenzie era, which was a success (playoffs).
2. The Gruden era, somewhat successful (playoffs), but it left the draft cupboard bare.
3. Everything post-Gruden — a complete and utter disaster.
Mark cares deeply about the Raiders. It’s his family, and he treats people well. He’s also done remarkable things with the Aces. To me, the common denominator in his struggles with the Raiders has been the absence of a strong GM. Maybe Spytek is that guy, but it’s still too early to tell.
I’ve been a fan since 1976. I used to cry after losses. These days, I don’t agonize when things go sideways — I just try to enjoy the team and appreciate getting to watch great talents like Maxx and Brock every Sunday.
Regards,
Sandy
Awesome, RT! That came from a place which only a loyal blogger of 21 years could muster. That's like Clint Eastwood in Outlaw Jose Wales talking life and death to Ten Bears. There is iron in your words.
We are at an inflection point. But I'm worried that getting the word out and putting up another billboard will result in the same defiance as the first one. Mark Davis doesn't see what we see and, as you suggest, maybe he doesn't care. But it's no longer Davis pulling the strings. So we are relegated to sit and wait for Tom Brady and perhaps other influencers to redirect and try again, perhaps several times before their cumulative failures result in another organization shift.
The Raiders are rudderless. The new and "improved" Tom Brady version produced the worst results in team history. You can be sure these guys are scratching their collective noggins. But they will never see what we see. It's not in their DNA.
And I think it's fair to point a finger at Pete Carroll. Carroll was brought to the Raiders specifically for his experience and understanding, and he failed in epic fashion. He was supposed to be the all-knowing change agent. Instead, he brought a myopic approach which failed the Raiders and has failed Pete Carroll in his past. That's why he wasn't coaching anymore.
It's disappointing beyond description. At a minimum, Mark Davis should issue a heartfelt apology to Raiders fans for being so pathetic as to defy the law of averages and the NFL's parity mandate during his entire tenure as owner.
Otherwise, how can he sleep at night?
Truth is accountability isn't a strength of the Davis family.
Cheers to all sufferers of this mess. May your homes be warmed by the solace of Raiders past.
Thanks NY, the Tom Brady situation is just more evidence: in comes a proven winner to the exec team yet the decisions get worse. Thanks for being such a consistent voice here through thick and mostly thin.
Sandy, I really appreciate and respect what you bring to the table. I see what you're saying about some mild successes along the way (the two winning seasons since 2002), but as you point out, everything post Gruden has been a disaster with no end in sight, which is what prompted me to let loose here. There's clearly something very wrong. Your even temper has no doubt been honed through all of the ups and downs since 1976, and the fact that you can smile through the worst and still take pleasure in watching talents like Maxx and Brock without letting the rest get you down is a credit to you. In short, you're a better man than me. :) Don't ever change.
I didn't mean to put words in your mouth, RT. You never said Davis "doesn't care." It's more a carelessness of ignorance.
Let's not forget too that Davis can afford to be wrong and spin out the same disaster year after year. I'd guess his bottom line hasn't changed since he moved to Vegas.
Unless they stumble by accident onto smart, what's another decade or two.
It seems that Mark Davis misread Tom Brady's skill set. He's not the GOAT of ownership or management. He's a rookie at those, and he showed us how green that could be. He replaced a veteran GM with a rookie friend of his. That's why I believe they will continue to hit reset. They have many more iterations of this before they throw in the towel. This is far from over. Our best hope is they stumble by accident onto something that makes sense.
Raiders are the new Lions of the NFL, sadly, with Matt Millen at GM. Millen was a baller at everything but....
I didn't take it that way at all. Caring is great, but doesn't go very far when competence is lacking. As for Brady, maybe you're right, and so maybe Mr. Davis should have been smart enough to see that. Which brings me back to my foundational conclusion.
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