Josh McDaniels continues to reach new levels of embarrassment.
“It’s like a broken record,” McDaniels started his press conference Sunday, per the team.
McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders suffered their worst loss in a season that has been filled with them. And it took place as McDaniels was out-coached by Colts’ Jeff Saturday, a controversial hire by Indianapolis this week who served as an NFL analyst for ESPN merely one week ago. It was the first time Saturday, a longtime NFL center, took the sideline as a coach.
In a 25-20 verdict, McDaniels lost to someone who never coached at the collegiate or professional level.
“Congratulate the Colts,” McDaniels told reporters. “They obviously made a few more plays than we did.”
It’s not often a head coach hears calls for his job during his first campaign with the team. But McDaniels has. Things started quietly after the Raiders lost three of their first four games, all of which came by six points or less. Those rumblings continued after questionable coaching decisions like that against the Kansas City Chiefs, and really gained steam when the Raiders were shut out in Week 8. Las Vegas’ loss in Week 9, their third defeat this season after possessing a 17-point lead, aided the public backlash.
But well-warranted calls reached fever pitch Sunday with McDaniels trending on Twitter immediately.
Raiders owner Mark Davis has shut down the idea that McDaniels would be fired. Davis has done so on more than one occasion despite Las Vegas, a team with plenty of offensive talent, having entered Week 10 after three consecutive losses to teams outside the playoff picture.
But now the Raiders have dropped two straight against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Colts. Again, an Indianapolis team which fired its offensive coordinator two weeks ago, fired its head coach last week and has a first-time head coach on the sideline. Oh yeah, the Colts play-caller was named mid-week given they didn’t have anyone in place. With that group, the Colts compiled 415 yards of offense on 6.9 yards per rush against the Raiders.
All told, it’s time for Davis to truly consider moving on.
The Raiders have dealt with injuries like every team in the league. That’s not an excuse. Derek Carr has played poorly and, outside of Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs, the offense has taken a step back despite adding one of the league’s best wideouts this offseason. McDaniels now has a team that was thought to be a postseason contender at 2-7 and stacking embarrassing losses.
McDaniels, now 13-24 in his career as a head coach, does not look capable of leading his own team. And now the only thing that might continue to save him reportedly is a massive contract buyout that Davis might not want to fork over.
