Black Friday was a crazy day for Las Vegas Raiders fans. Not only did they take advantage of the dome of the Black Friday sales, but they got to watch their team lose to the Kansas City Chiefs. Well with yet another loss, there is more bad news. The Raiders have officially been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. I know it’s an unsurprising piece of news, as the Raiders season has long been over. With so much that went wrong, there are 3 main reasons why they didn’t make the playoffs.
The Raiders defense is a complete mess and their pass rush is a mess. Excluding Maxx Crosby, who is a great pass rusher, the Raiders have nothing great. Crosby is the only Raiders defenseman today that has over 3 sacks (Crosby currently has 7.5)
Tyree Wilson has been a complete bust since the Raiders drafted him. While Wilson has shown some flashes, he has had more negative than positive moments. K’Lavon Chaisson is another bust-rounder who hasn’t looked great either. Besides them, I legit couldn’t name another Raiders pass rusher on the team. The Raiders have to fix this major issue in the offseason as this defense is trash.
I was a big Antonio Pierce fan last season, as he did a great job as the interim head coach. Then again, any coach would be a better head coach than Josh McDaniels. Remind me why the Raiders thought it was a good idea to hire that guy to coach years ago.
Pierce’s hard work resulted in his permanent promotion to head coach, which was well deserved. However, it looks to be a mistake, as Pierce has regressed as a head coach, and it’s clear, he wasn’t ready for that job full-time. Just look at how his in-game decisions have cost the Raiders multiple games. It also didn’t help that he’s starting to lose the locker room in early November.
Luke Getsy was a terrible hire as the offensive coordinator, and with him gone, the offense has not gotten better. This team needs to get a real head coach in here, and while I think Pierce has the ability to be a head coach one day, now is just too early for him.
No matter how good your roster is, you can’t win in the NFL without a consistently competent QB. I like Gardner Minshew, and in my opinion, he’s the greatest 6th-round drafted QB of all time, but he isn’t a full-time starter. He’s a nice backup QB, but he isn’t a great starter. It also doesn’t help that he played with a shoulder issue all season, and later broke his collarbone, which ended his season. Aidan O’Connell is terrible, and Desmond Ridder is even worse. The Raiders need to find a better franchise QB, as they don’t have one on the roster.
While there were many negatives with the Raiders this season, the big positive was with their first-round rookie Brock Bowers. The Raiders have something in this kid, as he has played well this season. In the 12 games he has played, he has put up a strong stat line of 84 receptions for 884 receiving yards, and 4 touchdowns. That is strong for a rookie, and he should get above 1,000 yards by the end of the season, which is a great accomplishment for being part of a terrible offense.
While Jayden Daniels will be the offensive rookie of the year, it really should be Brock Bowers, who has a monster season while working with terrible QBs. If he continues to develop, stays healthy, and plays this well, the Raiders have their franchise tight end for hopefully many years to come.
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