The Indianapolis Colts were the laughing stock of the NFL entering Week 10. Then they beat the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, shifting that distinction to Josh McDaniels’ team.
The Colts, after firing their head coach and hiring a former player who had no prior coaching experience, defeated the Raiders in Jeff Saturday’s first game at the helm, 25-20.
Las Vegas fell to 2-7 after the loss with McDaniels immediately becoming the target of criticism after the public realized how ironic the defeat was. The 46-year-old famously stiffed Indianapolis back in 2019, electing to return to the New England Patriots after initially accepting the Colts’ head coaching job. Jim Irsay would then shift to Frank Reich, who was fired earlier this week following a loss to New England to make way for Saturday.
To make matters worse, and add to the irony of the entire situation, Saturday blasted McDaniels’ team in a tweet before landing the Colts job.
McDaniels’ stint in Las Vegas has obviously started disastrously. The Raiders have blown three leads of 17 points or more through their first nine games and are 0-6 in one-possession games this season. Blake Martinez, a veteran linebacker signed early in the season, abruptly retired this week, after McDaniels claimed the Raiders had a “special” week of practice, and one of McDaniels’ former players slammed his leadership qualities in the middle of the week. All in all, things have gone about as poorly as possible.
McDaniels has lost 24 of his last 31 games as an NFL head coach, one of the many factors leading to the thought he could be fired by Raiders owner Mark Davis. It’s highly unlikely that happens, as the buyout to his contract reportedly is significant.
Instead, the Raiders will be forced to chug along and prepare for an AFC West matchup against the Denver Broncos in Week 11.
