Mark Davis should stand by complaints with Josh McDaniels decision
Josh McDaniels #JoshMcDaniels
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly isn’t happy with the team. Should he part ways with head coach Josh McDaniels.
The Las Vegas Raiders were supposed to be battling the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC West title in Week 18 of the 2022 season. Instead, they entered the game with a 6-10 record and eliminated from playoff contention. A far cry from the 2021 Raiders team that battled for a Wild Card berth under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia. After that successful year, the Raiders brought in head coach Josh McDaniels, wide receiver Davante Adams, and linebacker Chandler Jones.
A former Raiders executive told Outkick’s Jason Cole that owner Mark Davis is “embarrassed” about the team, pointing out how fans of opposing teams fill out Allegiant Stadium.
If Davis is that upset about the state of the Raiders, then shouldn’t he take a look at McDaniels?
Again, the Raiders made supposed win-now moves to help turn the team into consistent playoff contenders. Instead, the team fell well under expectations in McDaniels’ first year on the job.
The Raiders have blown multiple double-digit leads this season, including four double-digit leads at halftime. Not to mention they suffered an embarrassing loss to the Indianapolis Colts, who had Jeff Saturday as their head coach. It’s important to note that Saturday never coached in the NFL before, and hasn’t won a game since beating the Raiders. Now, they end the campaign 6-11. Definitely not what they expected walking into opening week, and McDaniels does hold responsibility for that.
Of course, the Raiders have an important decision to make after they benched quarterback Derek Carr for the final two games of the season. The indication is that the team will officially move on from him and replace him this offseason.
In the aforementioned report, the former Raiders executive said that Davis wants to bring in Tom Brady, and feels McDaniels could be key to that. However, the executive says that McDaniels may not be as all-in in regards to bringing in Brady.
McDaniels was Brady’s offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots for multiple years. But, as we can see, Brady has done just fine outside of New England. Just look at what he did in his first two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If Davis is “embarrassed,” he should look at evaluate every aspect of the team, including head coach. But from the sound of it, McDaniels will be back in 2023. Maybe he will be able to form the team into his image and turn them into a playoff contender.