Heading into Jon Gruden’s third season (in his second stint) with the Raiders, the expectations for his team were clear; make the playoffs. Just a few weeks ago, that seemed like a forgone conclusion.
But going into Week 13, that is no longer the case. Siting at 6-5, the Raiders will likely need to win four of their final five games to get into the tournament and even that isn’t a given. With games against the Colts and Dolphins, the Raiders need to win those games to earn the tiebreakers over potential Wild Card contenders.
So how is Jon Gruden performing this year? Not everyone is impressed. In a recent article by Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic, he ranked all 32 coaches entering the week. Gruden came in at No. 17, behind the likes of Raheem Morris, Mike Zimmer and Kliff Kingsbury. Here is Kapadia’s breakdown of Gruden in 2020:
“You could make the case that Jon Gruden is exceeding expectations, but at the end of the day the Raiders are 6-5 with a minus-27 point differential. Aside from last week’s clunker, Gruden has done an excellent job as a play-caller and offensive schemer. He’d benefit from being more aggressive with his in-game decisions, given how much better the Raiders’ offense is than its defense. If the Raiders can avoid a repeat of last year’s final stretch and sneak into the postseason, Gruden will deserve a ton of credit. But failing to make the playoffs will have to be considered a disappointment.”
Gruden is going to have his work cut out for him over the next month of the season. With several injuries across the offensive line and on defense, Gruden is going to need to get his team to play over their heads. This is a big month for Gruden as we’ve seen his teams struggle mightily in the final month of the season over the last two years.
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