The Las Vegas Raiders enter their Week 10 bye at 2-7. After an embarrassing blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday, the Raiders fired first-year offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Las Vegas also dismissed quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg after the team’s fifth straight loss.
While the Raiders’ have struggled mightily on the field this season, NFL analyst and former executive Michael Lombardi believes the team’s problems stem from its leadership.
“Mark [Davis] has been very irrational. He’s made very quick decisions… He’s listened to a lot of the wrong people… They talk about the Raider way all the time, I don’t think they really operate under the Raider way,” Lombardi said on The Pat McAfee Show via NFL on ESPN.
“I think Antonio Pierce is grasping for straws here at this point because how has he made the team better from a year ago when he took over as the interim coach? … Now he’s talking about maybe starting Desmond Ridder at quarterback. I think they have more of an offensive problem than just a quarterback problem. They have an identity problem,” Lombardi added.
So what’s the plan to fix the problem? Well, Norv Turner is back. After a five-year absence from the NFL, the Raiders hired Turner to help fix their offense. This actually is doing things the Raider way in that Turner was the team’s head coach for two seasons 20 years ago. Norv’s son Scott Turner was promoted to interim offensive coordinator after the team fired Getsy. Scott joined the Raiders as their pass game coordinator last season.
It’s already been a long season for Raiders’ coach Antonio Pierce
Pierce has said that firing Getsy was his decision. Prior to the Raiders’ Week 9 matchup against the Bengals, Pierce publicly put Getsy on notice, disparaging his play-calling. After the 41-24 loss, Getsy was canned.
As for who will lead the offense on the field, that’s still up in the air. Pierce has refused to name a starting quarterback. The coach did bench Gardner Minshew for Desmond Ridder in Week 9. Neither quarterback’s play could be described as particularly good but Ridder did have a garbage time touchdown pass. Both QBs lost a fumble in the game.
Pierce has spent much of the season either benching or thinking about benching Minshew. He initially pulled the plug on Gardner during the team’s Week 5 loss to the Denver Broncos, turning the offense over to Aidan O’Connell. But O’Connell landed on the IR after breaking his thumb in Week 7 so the Raiders turned back to Minshew. Now Pierce has the bye week to decide if he’d prefer to make the switch to Ridder.
O’Connell is expected to mis 4-6 weeks so he could return this season. But the team is now 2-7 and entering a full-on death spiral so it’s unclear exactly what he’d be returning to. Beyond the 2024 season, the Raiders are facing some serious decisions. Las Vegas will likely be looking for a new head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback for 2025. And if that weren’t enough to consider, Davis is also dealing with blowback related to Tom Brady’s unusual dual position as both an impartial NFL broadcaster and part owner of the Raiders.
