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A week after the Las Vegas Raiders fired Josh McDaniels, the implications for both the team and their former coach are quite extreme. The first game for the Raiders under new coach Antonio Pierce turned out to be a huge success, but the prospects for the rest of the season are challenging.
The effort level in the win over the Giants was notable for a team that had been dragging because of both personnel and play-calling situation. There’s no reason that the Raiders won’t continue to leave it all on the field in any game Pierce coaches. The one thing that his players know about him is that he is fully supportive of players who believed that their previous coach had his own agenda that lacked cohesiveness and a vision they could understand.
Josh McDaniels was on wrong path
The mistakes that McDaniels made were not just about this season and the 3-5 record the Raiders had at the time of his dismissal. The biggest error was last year’s awkward decision to send Derek Carr to the discard pile and eventually go with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback.
Carr was favored by wideout Davante Adams and the team’s other receivers, and the decision lacked any logic. Jimmy G has rarely been healthy in recent years, and the quarterback was not at his best any time he was in the lineup. The Raiders had no chance to win the Week 8 Monday night start against the Detroit Lions because his ability to throw the ball downfield with accuracy had disappeared.
His previous starts against the Packers and Patriots were victories, but all he did in those games was dink and dunk the ball down the field. The Raiders won those games because Jordan Love and Mac Jones started against them and the defense took advantage of their mistakes.
Pierce did two things as he took over. He relaxed the atmosphere in the Las Vegas locker room and gave his players freedoms that they did not have under McDaniels. The previous coach often kept his plyers longer and later in midweek practice sessions than many of his peers, which rubbed his players the wrong way.
Jimmy G to bench, Aidan O'Connell gets shot
Pierce also elevated Aidan O’Connell as the team’s starting quarterback because Garoppolo was playing worse than any other starter in the league. O’Connell was not a superstar in his first game as a starter, but he did complete 16-of-25 passes for 209 yards and did not throw an interception. His performance was far better than Garoppolo’s efforts.
Going forward, O’Connell is likely to face major issues because of the schedule. A victory against the New York Jets is quite possible, largely because that team’s offense is stuck in the mud with Zach Wilson and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett running the show. However, the New York defense is first-rate and should know how to slow down a rookie quarterback. After that, the Raiders face the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs in consecutive weeks before their bye week.
The Raiders will have a rookie quarterback and a first-year interim coach going up against two of the elite coach-quarterback combinations in the league. Both games could be devastating to the team’s remote playoff hopes.
McDaniels laid the groundwork for the backwards march this team was on. Changes at the top delivered some fresh air that were much-needed, but the Raiders are a long way from being fixed.
That is not likely to happen until the 2024 or ’25 season.
Kirk Cousins injury sends Kevin O’Connell into hypermode
The chances of the Minnesota Vikings beating the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9 seemed infinitesimal early in the second quarter. Newly acquired Josh Dobbs was on his fourth full day with the team. He had been thrust into action when rookie backup quarterback Jaren Hall was in concussion protocol after absorbing a big hit against the Falcons as he attempted to run the ball across the goal line. Hall was stopped short and knocked dizzy.
Dobbs was thrust into action, and he was tackled in the end zone on his first series for an Atlanta safety. He fumbled the ball away on his second series. It seemed clear that the Vikings would lose in blowout fashion.
But Dobbs had no inclination to get obliterated by the Atlanta defense, and he had Kevin O’Connell in his ear. There may have been no better coach in the NFL to hold his hand and talk him up than O’Connell.
Earlier in the season, when the Vikings stumbled and bumbled their way to an 0-3 start, O’Connell looked like a cheerleader trying to clap his team to victory. The Vikings looked soft and incapable.
That was a harsh determination, and the team had clearly rebounded with four wins in five games. Whatever he did to get his team back to .500 paled in comparison to what he did with Dobbs in the 31-28 win over the Falcons.
Give credit to the quarterback for the plays he made that included escaping the pass rush, running for a touchdown and multiple first downs and throwing two TD passes, including the game-winner with 22 seconds to go.
O'Connell makes his presence felt
But it was O’Connell who was in his ear both in the game and on the sidelines, explaining the plays and telling him exactly what the Atlanta defense was planning to do.
Under the circumstances, it turned out to be a perfect partnership. Dobbs did not know all his teammates' names, but he knew what to say in the huddle, the correct way to call the plays at the line of scrimmage and how to execute under extreme pressure.
He was able to play against a competent NFL team on the road without having had any significant preparation and he won. Whether he realizes it or not, the much-traveled Dobbs has set a high bar with the Vikings. More will be expected this week when the Vikings host the New York Saints.
That’s the way life is in the NFL. Accomplish an unrealistic miracle one week, and it’s time to build off that a week later.
If Dobbs takes a step backwards against the Saints, the Vikings may consider a change at quarterback if Hall can get released from concussion protocol or Nick Mullens can get off injured reserve. But as those options are considered, the belief here is that Dobbs will remain on the job.
First impressions last in life and the NFL, and there is now a serious bond between the head coach and the emergency quarterback that will not be broken.
What's next for Daniel Jones?
There is some talk that the Giants will move on from Daniel Jones after suffering a torn ACL that has ended his 2023 season. There’s one problem with that: Jones signed a four-year, $160 million contract in the offseason and that kind of commitment – however questionable it seemed at the time –remains in place despite the injury.
They will have to find a decent backup quarterback in the offseason because Jones is not likely to be at full-strength or top speed by Week 1 of the 2024 season, but they have too much of a financial commitment to wash their hands of him.
The next issue with eight games remaining in the season is whether the Giants can win another game. Jones is gone, Tyrod Taylor is on injured reserve and Tommy DeVito is the starter at quarterback while playing behind a substandard offensive line. The Giants, a playoff game winner a year ago, may very well go 2-15 this season, perhaps 3-14 if they get a break somewhere along the line. …
The Bill Belichick conundrum
The Patriots appear to be the worst team in the AFC right now, and much of this is landing on the head of Bill Belichick. He may be the GOAT when it comes to the history of the NFL – although there are some that still hold Vince Lombardi as the best ever – but he is not anywhere near that level when it comes to decisions made during the 2023 season.
Make no mistake about it, there is significant heat on Belichick, and a very painful decision for Robert Kraft may be close. The idea that Washington could make a trade offer for Belichick would be music to Kraft’s ears. The Patriots are in the middle of their third losing season in their last four years, and they have gone from 10-7 and a brutal loss in the Wild Card Game following the 2021 season to 8-9 to 2-7.
Belichick was asked if he is coaching to save his job. He offered this response: “I’m going to control what I can control,” he said. “And I’m going to get ready for the Colts.”
He did not reveal whether he had received any assurances from ownership about his job status the rest of the season.
The situation is fairly close to critical for Belichick.
C.J. Stroud wins by knockout
Size matters when the position is quarterback in the NFL. If the Panthers didn't know it before, they are learning a hard lesson this year. No. 1 pick Bryce Young, all 5-10 of him, threw two pick-6s in a 27-13 loss to the Colts. Young is 1-6, has an 8-7 TD-interception ratio and a 77.1 passer rating..
C.J. Stroud is flourishing in Houston and is becoming a a huge NFL star. The 6-3 Stroud set an NFL rookie record by throwing for 470 yards and five TDs in the Texans' 39-37 victory over the Buccaneers. He has a 14-1 TD-interception ratio and a 102.9 passer rating.
