Josh McDaniels’ tenure with the Raiders is in danger of ending like it did with the Broncos
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Josh McDaniels 2.0 is exhibiting the same troubling signs as the original version.
In just short of a season and a half, the Las Vegas Raiders have endured three memorably embarrassing losses under his watch.
The Raiders lost to interim coach Jeff Saturday and the Indianapolis Colts last season a week after Saturday left ESPN. That would be the only game that Saturday, now back with the network, would win.
Las Vegas also last season at the Rams two days after quarterback Baker Mayfield arrived in Los Angeles with barely any knowledge of the playbook.
And then on Sunday, the Raiders lost 30-12 at Chicago and a Bears quarterback who at this point last year was starring at Division II Shepherd University.
“I don’t think we played representative to what we feel like we can be,” McDaniels said Monday. “We’ve been competitive in most every game we’ve been in this year and that one got away from us. I feel like you are what you do. We didn’t play competitive enough, we didn’t coach well enough, and the game got away from us.”
McDaniels didn’t win with Denver in his first go-round as a head coach, and his record in Las Vegas is 9-15 with a game at Detroit next Monday night. The Raiders are 8 1/2-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Beyond the losses, McDaniels has made a series of decisions that have backfired. That included going with Brian Hoyer, a quarterback who hasn’t won a game as a starter in seven years, over rookie Aidan O’Connell. Hoyer racked up a dismal 37.1 quarterback rating, and the Raiders still don’t know more about O’Connell and whether he has a real future than they did a week ago.
Going with Hoyer, though, was likely the more conservative move, and that ties in with McDaniels’ general approach. He opted for a short field goal Sunday while trailing 21-3 rather than going for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line. That was not unlike his decision to kick a short field goal while down eight points a month earlier to the Pittsburgh Steelers with 2:25 to go.
