With their record now at 2-10, the Raiders’ season is shot, and the focus of the organization going forward needs to be about correcting what went wrong and preparing for free agency and the draft.
There will be plenty of time to sort out the roster after the season, but a decision will have to be made on Pete Carroll’s future in the next six weeks, or so.
As of now, Carroll’s future with the Raiders is certainly in doubt and The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen talked on his podcast on Monday about some of the reasons why.
Based on everything that has been reported since offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was fired, it sounds like there isn’t a lot to feel good about with the Raiders right now.
From the Just Win podcast, here are some of the highlights of Nguyen’s conversation with former Raiders’ offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse…
Nguyen said the Raiders’ situation behind the scenes is as bad as it’s ever been
“Going back to the Ian Rapoport report in that article, he said that Chip Kelly didn’t get to run his offense. He had to run a lot of things that Pete Carroll wanted to run. He had to go away from the shotgun and go more under center, which is what Pete Carroll wanted to go to.
[He] linked it to the Shane Waldron offense and basically implied that Chip had to run that type of offense and didn’t really get to do what he wanted as an offensive coordinator. And obviously, that just speaks to the level of dysfunction in his offense, because you don’t pay a guy to be the highest paid offensive coordinator and not allow him to run his offense. But why would you even want to bring that guy in in the first place, if you’re just going to dictate what he can do?
Maybe it was a Tom Brady hire, and it was forced upon Pete. But again, just dysfunction. The ideas and philosophies not lining up together, which is what we’ve seen from the Raiders in the past. And honestly, there’s more that I can’t tell you guys right now, but it’s as bad as it’s ever been. And I don’t know if Pete’s going to last after this year. I’ve never seen that before, where you bring in a offensive coordinator, you just don’t allow him to run his offense.”
Nguyen believes Chip Kelly has been “scapegoated” by some in the organization
“It does feel like he’s being scapegoated… I don’t know if his offense would have worked out, because like you, I prefer an under-center offense, you know, that’s based on the run and play action. I thought he was going to do some of that stuff, but we’ll never know what his offense was really going to look like and it’s really tough to be a play caller when you have so many voices in your head.
Because you can’t do what you want to do and what you think is best, even though you were hired for your expertise, you have to get input from this guy, get input from this guy. And you know, imagine you’re trying to call plays, you’re trying to set things up, you have the play clock, and then you’re looking down your sheet, but you’re not confident in making any calls because you know that you have to do this or you have to listen to this person and put this input in. So it was a very tough situation for Chip, and I just don’t know any play caller that could work in that type of environment.”
Nguyen said Tom Brady’s presence has not yet cleaned up problems in the organization
“My assumption is he does have a lot of power and a lot of say in these hires. And it’s almost like he’s playing a team president role without actually being given that title. He’s never had experience in this role before. So, you know, I think Brady will be good at whatever he wants to be in the long term. You can see him getting good at being a commentator.
His first year was kind of rough, but he’s getting better now. For sure. Because he’s going to work his a– off in whatever role you put him in and he obviously knows football. But being in this role for a first time, it feels like he’s made a little bit more of a mess than really cleaning things up with the Raiders. So, yeah, I mean, we could go on about this topic.”
There is not good alignment right now between Carroll and those above him in the Raiders’ building, Nguyen said
“Yeah, and I think, you know, even if Pete was an awesome coach and an amazing coach, like long-term success won’t happen unless there’s just alignment between the president, the GM and the coach. It doesn’t mean, you know, they have to hold hands and go to dinner every day and love each other, but there has to be an alignment of philosophies, an alignment of how to develop players, an alignment of how to deploy those players.
And right now, you know, it’s just not what we’re seeing as far as the product on the field, not what we’re seeing as far as the leaks coming out of the building. It’s just not going to work right now. So it’s hard for me to see Pete surviving and all of a sudden becoming aligned with everything.
That’s pretty much my conclusion on everything. How’s it going to, how is it all of a sudden that he’s going to coach the way Spytek wants him to coach and play the players…?”
How should the Raiders approach the final five games of the season?
If this year is really more about next year, it might be time for the Raiders to think about shutting down a few players.
Remember when the team decided to keep Derek Carr off the field so he wouldn’t sustain an injury in the final two games of the season?
Imagine the devastation it would cause the organization if Maxx Crosby went down with an injury that might affect next year?
And speaking of Crosby, he sounded like a player that was ready to find a team new team on Christmas Eve of 2024.
If the situation in Las Vegas has only gotten worse, look for trade rumors around Crosby to pick up between now and March.
If the Raiders aren’t going to compete for a Super Bowl in the next year or two, why not try to get a couple of premium draft picks for Crosby, who will turn 29 in August, before he enters the downside of his career?
Is now the time to look at some of the backup quarterbacks?
If Geno Smith isn’t the plan at quarterback going into next year, what is the purpose of putting him on the field instead of getting a look at Kenny Pickett or Cam Miller?
Remember, it was ‘JT the Brick’ who reported before the season that Pickett was expected to be the starter in Cleveland before a hamstring injury set him back in training camp.
“The Kenny Pickett story is really big because I talked to two Browns insiders, legit people, and they said that Kenny Pickett if he didn’t have his hamstring issue at the beginning of camp would’ve been the starter [in Cleveland],” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show in August.
“I said ‘Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, I need that for the show. What are you saying?’ Two guys called me back, not text, we talked. They said Kenny Pickett was by all intents and purposes, he was going to start over [Joe] Flacco, but his hamstring pulled, and he missed time and Flacco got the job.”
Considering the Raiders gave up a fifth-round pick for Pickett and used a sixth-round pick on Miller, it would seem reckless to miss the current “opportunity” to get them on the field in a meaningless season.
x: @raidersbeat
Yeah Brady doesn’t deserve the benefit of doubt. If he was so special why didn’t Robert Kraft bring him in?
BTW, the Patriots ? How they doing?
Carroll has to go, Geno has to go.
Rhetorical question with zero responses anticipated, “Can Raider Nation sue to put the Raiders into a receivership?” “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They.”