Is Josh McDaniels’ job as Raiders coach still safe? It shouldn’t be after this bad loss
.JPG "Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels watches warm-ups before an NFL game against the Indianapolis Colts in Las Vegas, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022.")
That’s it.
The Raiders’ season is all but done after an embarrassing 25-20 loss to the Colts on Sunday that gave interim Indianapolis coach Jeff Saturday his first win after last coaching in high school.
Saturday had no experience as a coach in the college or pro ranks and yet the Colts came out on top. The Raiders found another way to lose a game in which they had the lead.
This past week, it was reported that Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels’ job was safe.
But how can that still be the case after this loss to the Colts and Saturday?
Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham should also be on the hot seat after the defense failed once again. Las Vegas couldn’t get the stop it needed in the fourth quarter, particularly when Las Vegas forced a fumble but Darien Butler stood there and didn’t go after the ball.
Bad break. Then the Colts capitalized, scoring a touchdown to take the lead.
Sure, the Raiders got the ball back with a chance to win the game, but a pass attempt from Derek Carr to Davante Adams went incomplete, no flag was thrown and that sealed yet another dismal loss.
McDaniels assured anyone who questioned his hiring that he had learned from his stint as the Broncos coach, but that hasn’t shown to be true at all. McDaniels continues to preach about the need to “keep working and keep grinding” but that hasn’t translated into wins.
Raiders owner Mark Davis deserves his share of the blame.
Davis could’ve stuck with Rich Bisaccia and kept the rest of the coaching staff that was successful last season.
Instead, he wanted McDaniels, who had plenty of success with the New England Patriots as the offensive coordinator and hoped to carry that over with the Raiders.
And now the team’s playoff hopes are gone.
“It starts with me.,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to have to figure out something different to do to try to get free from some of these close scores and close games or make enough plays at the end to win. It always starts with us. It always starts with me. I’m going to do everything I can do to try to figure out what we can do to do better to change the results.”
It’s too late for that. After the Raiders finished the 2021 season 10-7 and with a playoff appearance, there were high expectations. The Raiders figured to only be better this season, after the trade that brought Adams into the fold and other players were added through free agency, particularly defensive end Chandler Jones.
Adams has contributed, but the rest of the offseason acquisitions mostly have been MIA.
Much of Raider Nation wants McDaniels gone, and he’s taken note of that.
“We have great fans and they want better than this. I get it,” he said. “They have the right to feel frustrated with the results that we’ve provided this year.”
Will it be one-season-and-done for McDaniels as the Raiders coach? It should be, because there is little to no sign of things getting better.
It’s up to Davis to fix his mistake.
This story was originally published November 13, 2022 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Is Josh McDaniels’ job as Raiders coach still safe? It shouldn’t be after this bad loss."
