Tafur Points to “Final Straw” in Raiders’ Decision to Fire Luke Getsy

It’s been a busy week for the Raiders despite the fact that they don’t have a game on Sunday.

When the players get back in the building in an official capacity next week, there will be a new offensive coordinator and, presumably, a few adjustments made to the way former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was trying to run an offense.

It wasn’t a huge surprise that Getsy was fired, although The Athletic’s Vic Tafur made the argument last week that Getsy’s firing probably wouldn’t reverse the trajectory of the offense.

“I’m not sure I can handle another nine weeks of Luke Getsy talk on social media and from reporters,” Tafur said on the Just Win podcast last week. “Clearly, the offense stinks. I don’t know if that’s all on Luke. I mean, we talked about this before. Gardner’s got 11 turnovers. Most in the league.”

“They can’t run the ball, [the] offensive line wasn’t very good and now they’re kind of banged up,” Tafur continued. “So I don’t know what difference it would make. I know fans want change, but I guess the hope is that for the Raiders, and the coaches have said this to the players, you kind of keep working at it.”

This week, Tafur pointed out why he believes the Raiders made the decision to pull the plug on Getsy’s short tenure with the team…

“I think the nail in Luke’s coffin was the fact that they have done well on these first drives. They scored touchdowns for the last five games. And after that, they were terrible,” Tafur said on the Just Win podcast.

“So I think you can’t just say, ‘Hey man, these guys suck. I can’t score.’ Because, obviously, you can score at some points. So some of those breakdowns, I don’t know what the adjustments are. If they knew the answer, they’d fix it. But clearly something’s wrong with that formula where you can score early and then you’re toast the rest of the game. So I think that really was the last draw for Antonio and the guys above him as far as making a change.”

Tafur noted earlier in the week that Getsy’s inability to get more production from Davante Adams was also a factor in his demise.

And poor production was only a portion of the story on Adams this year. Getsy wasn’t even able to convince his All Pro wide receiver to stay with the team until the trade deadline.

“It must be noted, of course, that play calling is far from the only reason the Raiders offense has been bad,” Tafur wrote this week in The Athletic. “Minshew, O’Connell and Ridder have all had their struggles, and a bad offensive line has also been dinged and was down to its last five healthy guys at the end of the Bengals game. Tight end Brock Bowers has been sensational, but the Raiders’ plan to lean on 12 personnel was axed when Michael Mayer began a lengthy absence in Week 4 due to personal reasons. And, lastly, the receiver corps is mediocre at best after Davante Adams wanted out and was traded to the New York Jets last month.

“That brings us to another (and maybe the biggest) issue for Getsy,” Tafur continued. “Adams was supposed to be his guy. Getsy was on the Green Bay Packers’ staff for seven of Adams’ eight years with the franchise, and Adams said he was consulted before the Raiders hired Getsy. In the three games they spent together with the Raiders, however, Adams felt he wasn’t utilized properly.”

x: @raidersbeat