Is The Raider Model The Way To Go?

[Bolt4Knob]

LOL, Well you have big dreams with the names you throw out. Cower wont leave. He has bad knees and hips as said by his fellow co Worker Nate Burleson on air. If Cower wanted to coach again, he would of been out there already and probably for a better owner than Spanos. Why go back to work for a clown?

Same with Dungy. Id take him in a heart beat but he isnt leaving either. Now i know you will say it dont hurt to make the call,.... no it dont BUT dont you think both guys havent called numerous times already over the years? This isnt some new idea.

Not to mention Spanos isnt going to offer them the type of money it would take to intrique them. We will most likely get a first time HC again.

All depends on how his ego is four years after the move and how the team has taken a downward spiral. If the dude wants to win bad enough - he will pay for a good coach. I mean it doesn't happen that often but I have a feeling he will not hire a first time head coach this time. But hell, last time it looked like it would be a guy with a defensive background and Lynn showed up Spannii'd!!!!

[Boltjolt]

Gruden is 18-26 in his 2nd stint with the Raiders. Not a very good return on a $100 million investment.

Since Mayock has been there, they have drafted and signed players much better. Gruden isnt a good personel guy. Before Mayock (he was named GM in Dec 31, 2018 aftr their 2018 season) he would sign old guys which didnt work and make bad trades like give a 3rd for the troubled WR from the Steelers and he lasted a year.

We just need to get the right people as well. JohnBoy needs to be reassigned and we need a better HC and staff.

[eaterfan]

1. I'm not sure the Raiders are good.
2. To the extent they are good, I'm not sure how much is Gruden.
3. They went through a total rebuild where they traded almost all their good pieces. Would anyone here advocate trading Bosa (Mack) and Allen (Cooper) if we could get 4 first rounders for them?
4. To the extent they are successful, a lot of it has to do with the line of scrimmage. They overdrafted there and sometimes reached for guys. I think that's the part of the Raiders plan I would most like to follow.

[Boltjolt]

1. I'm not sure the Raiders are good.
2. To the extent they are good, I'm not sure how much is Gruden.
3. They went through a total rebuild where they traded almost all their good pieces. Would anyone here advocate trading Bosa (Mack) and Allen (Cooper) if we could get 4 first rounders for them?
4. To the extent they are successful, a lot of it has to do with the line of scrimmage. They overdrafted there and sometimes reached for guys. I think that's the part of the Raiders plan I would most like to follow.

They got a lot of good players with those picks and they have way more injuries and Covid going around than we do right now. I dont know what their deal with Cooper was but he is doing well in Dallas. Again Grudens offense is very complex so maybe he wasnt getting it good enough. He wouldnt be the only one.

If Bosa ever says he isnt happy here id trade him for multiple high picks. With the way this franchise has been im surprised he resigned with us. He could of went anywhere and got that money.

[dmac_bolt]

I endorse they wise man who suggested we wait until the Raiders actually do something. KC is currently riding the AFCW equivalent of what we rode the second half of ‘00s. 3 other teams are all flawed and usually suck. Raiders right now are better than the Bolts but they aren’t a championship team - why emulate mediocre .500 ball? Still not convinced Chucky is the answer to any riddle - we’ll see.

[Boltjolt]

Hey if you cant beat them, join them. Hire Bill Belichick.

[Guest]

Get Cowher out of the booth. Gruden shows that it can be done. Win for the chin

I would not let Cowher touch our offense. We need someone dedicated to not running the ball--basically the polar opposite of Anthony Lynn.

Andy Reid would be perfect, but he is occupied at the moment.

[foreigner]

Let's wait until the Raiders actually accomplish something before copying that model. They aren't even a playoff team currently and are a bonehead play call away from losing to the winless Jets and being 6-6.

Of course, since we are 3-9 being 6-6 would be something...

I agree, nowadays the rebuilding process doesn't take 3-4 years like before... I believe Gruden is in his 3rd year already and they are average at best.... last year would've been their dark horse season and this year they would've killing the league but they are not....

[Bolt4Knob]

I agree, nowadays the rebuilding process doesn't take 3-4 years like before... I believe Gruden is in his 3rd year already and they average at best.... last year wouldn't been their dark horse season and this year they would've killing the league but they are not....

Call me a charger fan forever optimist but even with Injuries to Tranq and James - the Chargers should have won a helluva lot more games than they did earlier in the season. That was some bad coaching.

I think a targeted offseason that addresses the OL, the DL and CB... plus adding some veterans on ST - and this team could flip things around.

Oh yes, also hire the right Head coach will be also hire a very good staff.

The Chargers have the cap space and draft picks to address the player personnel issues. They just need the right Head Coach and GM to do the rest. And with the Spanii, thats the hard part.

Brian Kelly please!
(if not I might be getting closer to being on the harbaugh train)

[richpjr]

Call me a charger fan forever optimist but even with Injuries to Tranq and James - the Chargers should have won a helluva lot more games than they did earlier in the season. That was some bad coaching.

I think a targeted offseason that addresses the OL, the DL and CB... plus adding some veterans on ST - and this team could flip things around.

Oh yes, also hire the right Head coach will be also hire a very good staff.

The Chargers have the cap space and draft picks to address the player personnel issues. They just need the right Head Coach and GM to do the rest. And with the Spanii, thats the hard part.

Brian Kelly please!
(if not I might be getting closer to being on the harbaugh train)

I agree with this whole heartedly. The Chargers do have holes, like most teams, and injuries have hurt us, like they do all teams. But if we had a competent coaching staff this year there is just no way we are a 3 win team.

[Bolt4Knob]

I agree with this whole heartedly. The Chargers do have holes, like most teams, and injuries have hurt us, like they do all teams. But if we had a competent coaching staff this year there is just no way we are a 3 win team.

they were leading KC by a lot -
they were leading Tampa and NO by a good margin
never should have been in Carolina but if Keenan is a bit more patient - they win that game
should have won Denver

I really think a targeted approach to fix OL, edge rusher, special teams and CB - this team could be better record wise
as long as the coaches improve

[richpjr]

The Raiders are imploding and a mess right now:

Tafur: Raiders fire Paul Guenther after his defense has ‘no answer’ for Colts

By Vic Tafur

LAS VEGAS — The Raiders’ pirate ship is taking on water quickly after Sunday’s 44-27 loss to the Colts, and afterward coach Jon Gruden attempted to plug the biggest hole by firing defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.

Gruden fired Guenther less than three hours after the game, one in which the Colts averaged 7.7 yards per play to hand the 7-6 Raiders their third loss in four games. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli will take over on an interim basis.

“Defensively, we had no answer,” Gruden said after the game, before the firing. “You can’t give up that many yards rushing and then not to get to the quarterback and then lose the margin and expect to win in this league.”

Weeks ago, Gruden had defended Guenther — whom he brought with him when he returned to the Raiders in 2018 — and said he was a good coach and that he was dealing with a lot of missing players. While the lack of a pass rush is one thing, Gruden has been disheartened by the run defense the last two games, as the Jets and Colts ran for a combined 418 yards.

“We misfit some runs and we paid for it big time,” Gruden said. “No answer today, but we better find some answers and as soon as I’m done here, we’ll start searching.”

And why not act now, Gruden is probably thinking. He has a game in 96 hours against the Chargers and can’t replace the players. Maybe Marinelli has some ideas, and Gruden clearly thought that the defense, after a brief uptick a month ago, was getting worse. Gruden and Marinelli go way back, further back than Gruden and Guenther go, and Gruden thought highly enough of the former Cowboys defensive coordinator to bring him in last offseason and fire popular and successful defensive line coach Brentson Buckner.

Guenther was not going to survive after the season anyway. The Raiders have allowed 40 or more points nine times in Guenther’s three seasons — they allowed 40 or more points nine times in the nine seasons before that.

Overall, they are last in the league in points allowed (28.4) and sacks (60) in Guenther’s nearly three seasons, and 30th in takeaways (47). He tried blitzing earlier this season but gave up when players weren’t getting to the quarterback and the defense was made even more vulnerable.

On Sunday, the Raiders didn’t really bother Philip Rivers much on third downs. Forget about sacks, the Raiders only touched an immobile quarterback with turf toe once all day.

And that’s actually another reason why Gruden making the move right now is a Hail Mary. Marinelli’s defensive line group has been awful, and he hasn’t done anything to deserve a promotion.

Marinelli will try to get something out of all the free-agent signings that have not produced — nickel cornerback Lamarcus Joyner last season and this season’s crop of defensive linemen Carl Nassib and Maliek Collins and linebackers Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski.

(And how bad is Nassib? The Raiders have nobody and the pass rusher they signed for $7.8 million guaranteed this season and $5.8 million guaranteed in 2021 was a healthy scratch for the second week in a row.)

After the game, Gruden went on to say that he doesn’t want to make excuses but then ran off a list of players who were missing — Clelin Ferrell (who left with a first-quarter shoulder injury and didn’t return), Johnathan Abram (who went down late in the game and was being evaluated for a concussion), Jeff Heath and Damon Arnette.

And then he decided that that defensive coordinator was the excuse.

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This was a game the players said they had to have, as they were 7-5 and a game behind the 8-4 Colts in the playoff race. The return of running back Josh Jacobs, right tackle Trent Brown and Abram was supposed to give them a boost. And it may have, as the Raiders actually led 14-10 early in the second quarter.

Jacobs, for some reason, had trolled fantasy football players on Instagram two hours before Sunday’s game, saying he wasn’t playing after all despite the reports that he was. Raiders fans freaked out as well and now probably wish that Abram had sat out.

It’s hard to pick out a turning point with a defense this bad, but T.Y. Hilton’s 41-yard touchdown in which he ran by Abram — who was again caught cheating and leaning forward — was definitely the snowball that started the avalanche.

That touchdown made it 17-14 and started a 34-6 Colts run over the next two quarters. Abram also had a personal foul on Indianapolis’ first touchdown drive and a couple more missed tackles due to overexuberance.

Abram undoubtedly gives the team an emotional charge, due in part to the lack of any veteran leadership. And he was always going to play Sunday after missing last week’s game with a knee injury. Same with Jacobs (ankle) and Brown (COVID-19 complications) — the playoff implications of the game were just too big.

The offense — despite Jacobs (49 yards on 13 carries) not being able to cut loose against a fast Colts defense — was fine. Not good enough, but fine. The defense got worse. After giving up 206 yards rushing to the Jets last week, it was force-fed 212 by the Colts.

No one is saying that’s all on Abram — losing Ferrell in the first quarter sure didn’t help — but even Gruden, Abram’s biggest fan, is starting to sound like Abram is part of the problem and not the solution.

Gruden went out of his way not to mention Abram’s name the week after he blew the coverage on the game-winner to the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce three weeks ago. But Sunday, when asked about the return of Jacobs, Brown and Abram, Gruden didn’t hold back.

“I thought Trent was a difference-maker,” Gruden said. “He played great and I thought the pocket was clean. Josh is a difference-maker for us running and receiving, and I think he is getting close to being the Jacobs we all know.

“Abram … you know, uh, he has some flashes. He also has some plays that he’s gotta clean up. Obviously.”

The 2019 first-round pick missed 15 games during his rookie season with a shoulder injury, and the Raiders love his old-school nastiness and hitting ability. But with the personal fouls, fines (two by the league for $80,000 for questionable hits in the Falcons loss) and blown coverages, Abram has to prove an old-school safety can survive, forget about thrive for now, in today’s pass-happy NFL.

Even with a new defensive coordinator, it doesn’t look good for the Raiders’ playoff chances. Though if the Browns beat the Ravens on Monday night, the Raiders control their destiny and can get in by winning their three remaining games against the Chargers, Dolphins and Broncos.

There’s enough blame to go around, and plenty of time for that later. The Raiders have to forget about this loss, prop up their confidence and suit up for kickoff on Thursday.

“We can’t worry about the playoffs. … We have to take care of our business,” Gruden said. “I don’t want to hear any more playoffs questions. We have to take care of our business and find a way to win our eighth football game.”