Raiders are rolling with an interim Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, a 4th round rookie QB, and still hanging in there with top tier teams.
They have shown a lot of progress since Mcdaniels was fired, but we have to assume they are still using a majority of his playbook.
The losses haven’t been blow outs, and actually look competitive since AP has taken over.
I get the negativity, but just look at it realistically for a second. I’m not 100% sold on AOC at QB, but he still is making progress. I’m all for drafting a QB in the 1st round and letting them battle it out for the starting spot.
Just my thoughts. When the Chiefs tied it up 14-14 at halftime, I knew it was going to be a struggle to win the game. They’re SB champs with a generational QB and HoF HC. At least it wasn’t a completely embarrassing loss. (Like the Bears game.)
At this point its all academic. We already fired our HC, we dont have any other realistic long-term options at QB. So we’re rolling with AP+AOC, hell or high water, through the end of the year.
That means we’re going to see a full body of work on them both before any decisions are made. There is zero point to trying to make any kind of final decisions on them already. That’s a conversation for January.
All we really need to do now is look at the trajectory we’re going in. Right now its steadily improving, which is what you’d want to see at this point. Still a lot of mistakes at QB and bad coaching decisions, but all that needs to happen is those get less and less egregious each week, and they are. AOC’s numbers are good, he’s building rapport with his receivers, and seeing the field better and better. AP is learning how to make adjustments, manage the clock (still lots of room for improvement there), and strike the right balance of aggression and prudence, as the game situation dictates.
Unless we start backsliding and getting blown out and thoroughly outplayed, I dont think there’s a realistic complaint about their production right now
The bye week is going to be a big indicator of how the coaching staff reacts, too. We know he’s going to rally the troops, but we’ll see how much better the team looks with an extra week to prep for MIN.