Khalil Mack Reminded The League How Great He Is… And Lost Anyway

Khalil Mack has one game on his resume with the Bears and it sure was a good one. Without jumping to too many conclusions after one weekend, please accept this offering of a few thoughts on the Raiders, Mack, and the trade that rocked the league…

– There’s always the chance the Raiders find a player better than Mack with their newly-acquired picks from the Bears, but contrary to what Nike may tell you, it might be time to give up on the dream. Mack proved once again last night that he’s a generational talent. He tossed around the Packer offensive like little children.

– It doesn’t justify the trade, but it was ironic that one of the great performances by a defensive end ended in a loss to a great, and hobbled, Hall of Fame quarterback. Mack wanted to be paid more than Carr and he deserves the check he got – but he doesn’t deserve to be paid more than an elite quarterback. The question now… is Carr going to be an elite quarterback under Jon Gruden?

– You know what matters more than defensive ends and quarterbacks? A coach that knows what to do with them. The Bears hired an offensive genius in Matt Nagy and it showed last night. But Nagy also had a fourth-and-short opportunity that, if converted, would have kept Aaron Rodgers from stepping on the field again. Coaches need to start taking their chances in those situations, especially against great quarterbacks, and try to pick up a yard to end the game.

Gruden has already proven himself to be a suspect general manager, but if he can return to being an elite head coach, it might not matter. Would you rather face the Rams with Mack and an inferior coaching staff or without Mack and have Gruden on the sideline? Gruden has shown no fear in managing the roster… hopefully he’ll coach the team the same way on Monday night.

– Some were on twitter last night complaining about Raider fans rooting against the Bears. Well, the Raiders own the Bears first-round pick in each of the next two drafts. Taking words (or letters) from Aaron Rodgers, some of you need to R-E-L-A-X. It’s not about the player, it’s about the picks.

For what it’s worth, the Bears look like they’re going to win a few games this year. Their schedule isn’t terrible and it’s hard to imagine them losing more than 8 or 9 games – but fortunately they already have one in the loss column.

Hopefully, there are many more to come.

Oh, and a final note… when are teams going to stop handing a blank check to Sam Bradford?

twitter: @raidersbeat

 

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4 thoughts on “Khalil Mack Reminded The League How Great He Is… And Lost Anyway

  1. I have been a Raiders die-hard for fifty years. My friend Ginny used to drive a cab. When the Raiders were in that playoff game in the blizzard, she was driving a fare to his house in Oakland. The two were glued to the radio. She pulled her cab to the curb and ran behind the fare into his house to watch the last of the game on TV. When the Raiders won, and everyone was dancing around, the family looked at this skinny white girl with puzzlement—who are you?—and then all went back to celebrating. Raider Nation in a nutshell. A hundred thousand hearts were broken last night as we watched Kahlil in a Bears uniform. Moving the team to Vegas turns out to be Mark Davis’ SECOND worst mistake. (His third was exchanging Greg Papa for the moribund Brent Musburger, who is even older than I am.) Gruden has a lot to make up for.

  2. All we can hope for is an 8-8 season from the Bears. I don’t think JG liked that his superstar defensive player didn’t want to come to camp to glorify him and his new Raider team. Not a team player in JG’s eyes. Philosophy wise, notice the quarterback won the game. Mack was neutralized in the second half. Have patience Raider Nation, we’ll be alright.

  3. Not sure why it has to be an either or with Mack and the coaching staff. I believe the Raider fans would choose to face tue Rams with Mack and a great coaching staff. The Raider fans have always wanted both and it seemingly was possible, only Jon Gruden for some reason couldn’t handle both.

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