The Raiders turned in their most disappointing week of the season on Sunday, and there is plenty of blame to go around after a 40-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Coaches and players are all responsible, but who is most responsible for the team’s latest blowout loss?
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the responsibility this week rests squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff.
“It’s not a roster void of talent, and this team has certainly got to get going in the right direction. That does not start with players. That absolutely starts with coaching,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“Make no mistake, the debacle on Sunday sits squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. I’m not willing to call out one player, because the coaching staff, when everybody looks that bad, that’s on coaching. Everything rises and falls with leadership.”
The players played poorly on Sunday, but what might have been most concerning is that all three phases of the game were a disappointment.
The Raiders have struggled on special teams since the start of the season, but they were probably the worst they have been all year against the Colts.
Offensively, too many of the players look lost under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, and veteran quarterback Geno Smith looks as lost as any quarterback in the league right now.
Patrick Graham’s defense has also taken a step back in recent weeks, and on Monday Pete Carroll announced that starting linebacker Germaine Pratt has been released. No one is saying what led to Pratt’s release, but there seemed to be some unrest between Pratt and the coaching staff.
Whether the issue is the players, coaches or someone else that’s most responsible, the body language around the team right now looks eerily similar to the Josh McDaniels years. The McDaniels situation might have been different, but the performance on the field in McDaniels’ final games looked way too similar to what we saw from the Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
x: @raidersbeat
It’s void of talent. Patriot West left us with nothing & traded 2 high end picks for Davante(stupid).
Telesco started to bring in more players but a coaching change hinders their development.
Mark, and Brady still sucks. Sell Mark
It’s void of talent. No #1 receiver, patchwork OL, LB crew, and secondary. But, the way they found a way to lose the game against the Bears, we’ve seen that multiple times over the years. We need strong ownership to change the entire losing culture. Bringing in an inexperienced former star QB to run the football side was a huge gamble. Plus we need a young HC with the energy to see the rebuild through.
Unfortunately, they’d have to admit to rebuilding and Mark Davis won’t allow it. If that doesn’t change, it’s hard to see the Raiders fortunes ever changing.
Agreed. I’d love Kubiak but if the Dolphins fired their guy I’d take him. He got the most out of Tua, who isn’t that good.
Of course any Head Coach should be allowed to pick their GM or vice versa, then tell Brady to stay the fudge out…or Mark could sell
The team went 4-13 last year, they lost a couple of good players and the guys they’ve added have mostly been bad. Yes, the coaching sucked, and has sucked, but this is most certainly not a talented roster. Go through their starting 22 and find the guys who are even league average for their position. Now find the guys who have been absolutely disastrous. The latter column is going to be a lot fuller.
That’s not a recipe for success no matter who is coaching them, and I believe Hondo was one of the guys hyping up the team this offseason, even though it never made any sense for Carroll and his timeline to be brought in as HC.
Which is why I was for giving AP more time. His roster blew & he’s supposed to win with Aiden? Unrealistic but Mark set him up to fail so he could have his bff Brady run it all
I guess the SeaSlugs knew a Little something when they Let Pete Carroll go… Mutually, of Course!!!!
Teams are still making moves to sure up there situation everyone but us?