The Raiders Are Sitting at 0–3—and Maybe Wondering What Could Have Been

It’s too early to second-guess the Josh McDaniels hire. But it’s also impossible to ignore what a different coaching staff, with a less-talented roster, did last year.

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Simply mentioning that the Raiders are 0–3 at the moment feels like an incredibly loaded statement.

Following their 24–22 loss to the Titans, a team featuring Derek Carr, Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby are buried quite deeply in the recesses of the AFC West. It is a place we cannot imagine, with even the wildest corners of our imagination, that they emerge from. Were they in another conference—another division, even—it would be understandable to pass this off as merely a bad bit of luck. But the Raiders are winless beneath Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson. That’s like sitting underneath the tire of an 18-wheeler.

Within that loaded statement about the Raiders’ record lies a thousand questions that Raiders fans might be asking themselves right now. The kind of leading questions they might ask before donning their best Paulie Walnuts accent, throwing their hands in the air and uttering the words: I’m just sayin’. Here are a few of those questions:

How might Raiders owner Mark Davis feel? Remember, he didn’t want to change head coaches. He reluctantly moved on from Jon Gruden, whom he was overwhelmingly infatuated with, following the leak of Gruden’s old emails, which contained misogynistic, racist and anti-LGBTQ language. Gruden went 3–0 over the first three weeks of last season with a less-talented version of the current roster (under vastly different circumstances, in all fairness to the current regime). That Raiders team eventually made the playoffs and was running a formidable, modern offense with some upside that seemed to get the best of Carr. Davis, in his select few words about Gruden, seems to have questions for the NFL about the circumstances surrounding the release of Gruden’s emails.

Is there, even for a moment, reason to second guess the decision to move on from last year’s interim head coach, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia?

What level of confidence is there in creating another satellite Patriots organization right now? New England is 1–2. While Bill Belichick is undoubtedly one of the best coaches of alltime and led the Patriots to the playoffs last year, it is fair to question the general mysticism of the team’s dynasty beyond Belichick and Tom Brady, and whether simply hiring assistants in their orbit comes with any fairy dust? (Ask the Giants and Lions for their opinions on the matter.)

How do the Raiders proceed if this turns out to be a lost season? Their best offensive player turns 30 on Christmas Eve, their quarterback, while signed to an extension before the start of the season, is on something akin to a year-to-year deal. The only other simultaneous, Patriots-flavored rebuild happening in the NFL right now is in Houston. Are they feeling O.K. about that company?

Full disclosure, Part 1: I am not in any position of authority to criticize the Raiders here. This is the same byline that requested a league-mandated takeover of the team’s front office. The same one that relentlessly dogged the hiring of Gruden and a majority of his personnel decisions. The same one that would have walloped Davis for hiring Bisaccia, given the bleak history of interim takeovers. Complimenting the Gruden era without mentioning this feels like a next-level absence of self-awareness.

Full disclosure, Part 2: I loved the hiring of McDaniels and Dave Ziegler and still do. The Raiders’ 0–3 start contained losses by a combined 13 points, one in an overtime game against the inferior Cardinals who assembled a handful of the luckiest plays of the season. McDaniels also had his own journey outside of Foxboro and learned his own lessons. This feels like less of a Patriots-style takeover than we’ve seen from other Belichick assistants.

But we are not Raiders fans. And it’s important to understand how many Raiders fans arrived at this moment.

Over the years, they have developed an understandably tough exterior when it comes to people criticizing their franchise. Last year represented a turning point to those who held firmly on the belief that Gruden would deliver them a long-term winner. They have developed a somewhat conspiratorial tone about the whole thing. While the manner in which Gruden left the Raiders is obviously complicated from a fan’s perspective (like many teams that employ or have employed a person who acts in a manner inconsistent with a fan’s belief and value structure, there is an inevitable wrestling with the idea of rooting for them) the idea that they seemed to be heading in one direction and now look to be trending in another is relatable.

And so, right now, there is probably not a great deal of panic. Again, these were narrow losses. This was a tough division. There was always a chance they were going to find themselves boxed out.

But they likely have some questions. Some thoughts.

Just sayin’. 

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