Josh McDaniels – Syndication Server

Josh McDaniels could return to Patriots, if Bill Belichick sits out 2024

Josh McDaniels could be a candidate to return to New England

Former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels could return to New England, if one particular scenario happens.

With Bill Belichick missing out on the head-coaching opportunity for the Atlanta Falcons, there are only two job openings left with the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders. McDaniels could follow him to either one, but as of right now, neither destination appears to be a realistic option.

So if Belichick doesn’t get hired and decides to sit out the 2024 season, McDaniels could end up being at the top of the list for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator position.

The Athletic’s Jeff Howe mentioned the possibility during an appearance on Andrew Callahan’s “Pats Interference Podcast.”

“If Belichick gets the Falcons job, I think there’s a very strong chance he brings (Josh) McDaniels with him,” Howe told Callahan, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Dakota Randall. “If Belichick doesn’t get the Falcons job, McDaniels probably jumps to the top of the list for the Patriots.”

McDaniels served as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator from 2006-2008 and again from 2012-2021. He also served in the role of quarterbacks coach with the Patriots for multiple seasons.

With the Falcons hiring Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their new head coach, there’s a strong likelihood that Belichick could get left out in the cold this go-around.

That could pave the way for a Patriots reunion with McDaniels.

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Raiders were least aggressive team in NFL even after Josh McDaniels was fired

Raiders were least aggressive team in NFL even after Josh McDaniels

One of the major criticisms of Josh McDaniels over his 25 games as Raiders head coach was his lack of aggressiveness. Head coaches have to make gutsy decisions, and one of the most important is when they decide to go for it on fourth down.

The folks over at FTN Fantasy put together what they call an aggressiveness index. It counts how often coaches go for it on fourth down while filtering out those times when they likely have to go for it (for instance late in a game when only a touchdown or more will do) and the times when they absolutely should not. This essentially leaves behind the number of times they opt to go for it on fourth down when given a choice between a short punt or a field goal try.

For the Raiders, they counted 106 total fourth-down opportunities. Of those, they were expected to go for it on at least 15 of them, and they went for it 10 times. This gave them an aggressiveness index of 0.65, which is the lowest in the NFL.

You may be surprised to learn that the 0.65 number accounts for both Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce. McDaniels went for it four times, when 6.1 was the expected number; Pierce went for it six times, while 9.2 was expected.

For comparison, and a way of understanding what the 0.65 aggressiveness index really means, one of the most aggressive coaches was the Lions’ Dan Campbell. He went for it on fourth down a league-high 29 times. His 1.67 score suggests that he went for it two-thirds of the time more than he was expected, rather than one-third less as was the case with both Raiders coaches.

This points to potentially three things for the Raiders. One is the offense staying the same even when McDaniels and OC Mick Lombardi were fired. The next is lack of confidence in the offense. The other is faith that the defense will carry the team — something it did for most of the team’s wins this season.

As for the offensive scheme that carried over from McDaniels, it may just be part of “the Patriot Way” considering the next-lowest aggressiveness index score in the league was for McDaniels’ old boss Bill Belichick in New England (0.73).

McDaniels showed no confidence in any of the three starting quarterbacks he had in his eight games this season, whether it was Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer or Aidan O’Connell. And you can’t really blame him too much for that, but confidence or not, sometimes you just have to realize pussyfooting around isn’t going to get the offense where it needs to be.

Pierce went full time to the rookie O’Connell and put most of his faith in the play of the defense to keep the Raiders in games rather than risk the offense screwing that up.

There is no perfect correlation here between winning and aggressiveness. There are playoff teams on each end of this spectrum. The Lions (1.67), Eagles (1.66) and Browns (1.44) are near the top, and the Ravens (0.76), Steelers (0.76) and Rams (0.79) are near the bottom. Each must be judged for its own reasons.

The only thing that seems to tie together the good teams from the bad is the number of opportunities to go for it. The teams with the worst offenses just aren’t in the position to make that decision very often.

What you would hope for the Raiders is they get themselves a quarterback who can not only improve the team’s ability to get those opportunities, but who the head coach can feel confident enough in to go for the kill shot.

5 realistic offensive coordinator candidates for Patriots to replace Bill O’Brien

Here are five realistic offensive coordinator candidates for the Patriots

With Bill O’Brien reportedly expected to be hired by the Ohio State Buckeyes, the New England Patriots will be looking to fill their now vacant offensive coordinator role on the coaching staff.

The possibility of change with the offensive play-calling was always a possibility with newly-hired Patriots coach Jerod Mayo hiring his own staff. At Wednesday’s introductory press conference, he noted “everything was under consideration,” when asked if he planned on opening an offensive coordinator search.

The Patriots offense has ranked among the worst in football for the last two seasons. So it’s clearly a unit that could use a fresh pair of eyes. Granted, it won’t matter who they hire, if they fail to address the lackluster talent on the roster through free agency and the draft.

There are a plethora of intriguing options out there for the Patriots to help turn things around. Here are five offensive coordinator candidates for New England to replace Bill O’Brien:

Raiders 2023 Season Busters

While the Raiders may have ended the season with a good feeling overall, they ended it with a meaningless game. Being unable to reach .500 and knocked out of the playoffs before the end of the season obviously means a few things went wrong.

We covered the top performances in the Ballers. Now let’s get to the bad news with our Busters.

Raiders 2023 season awards: Rookie of the Year, MVP, Breakout Player, more

It’s the week for All Pro teams. But while those teams compare players across the league to each other, around these parts we tend to focus on just the Raiders. Which brings us to our 2023 Raiders season awards.

7 realistic coaching candidates for Patriots after moving on from Bill Belichick

7 realistic coaching candidates to potentially replace Bill Belichick

The New England Patriots find themselves in unfamiliar territory over the last 24 seasons. After mutually agreeing to part ways with Bill Belichick, they are now in a position where they have a vacancy for a new head coach.

Finding a succession plan for Belichick, who is widely regarded as the greatest coach in NFL history, won’t be easy. Even if the team did fall off a cliff after the Tom Brady era, an argument could be made that things would have looked even worse with a lesser coach.

Belichick’s decision-making as a de facto general manager ultimately led to his undoing in New England more so than his coaching ability. Under his watch, the Patriots still had one of the best defenses in football, and they showed fight against significantly more talented teams.

But a 4-13 finish obviously wasn’t going to cut it.

The Patriots are looking to throw a fresh coat of paint on the franchise and get back to being a perennial contender. Here are seven coaching candidates to keep an eye on as potential replacements for Belichick:

Report: Josh McDaniels could return to Patriots, if Bill Belichick stays with team

Josh McDaniels is reportedly a “candidate to return” to the Patriots, if Bill Belichick sticks around in 2024.

The New England Patriots could be getting a huge helping hand in the form of a familiar face in 2024, if the team ultimately decides to keep Bill Belichick as head coach.

According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, former longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would be “considered a candidate to return” to New England.

Howe wrote:

Part of that plan may include a reunion with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is considered a candidate to return, sources close to the situation said.

Belichick and owner Robert Kraft met for the first time on Monday to discuss the future of the franchise. There has been no decision regarding Belichick’s job status, but there are still expectations that ownership will make the decision to part ways.

With that said, these meetings are a way for Belichick to convince Kraft to give him another shot at getting the team back on track. One way to do that is to fix the offense. McDaniels could lend a helping hand with that effort considering he was the offensive coordinator the last time the unit had success.

Mac Jones was a rookie Pro Bowler under McDaniels, and after he left for the Raiders, everything fell apart for the Patriots. Perhaps a reunion would give the team the boost it needs to find success once more.

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Broncos name QB Jarrett Stidham starter just as with Raiders this time last year

Russell Wilson is getting the Derek Carr treatment and once again it’s Jarrett Stidham there to take over.

Jarrett Stidham is experiencing some serious deja vu right now. With two games left in the season, the Broncos are sitting QB Russell Wilson so as to not risk him getting injured as they intend to move on from him this offseason. Head coach Sean Payton has named Stidham the starter for the final two games.

If this sounds familiar, it should. Replace Broncos QB Russell Wilson with Raiders QB Derek Carr and you have the exact situation at the exact same juncture for Stidham as last season in Las Vegas.

The Raiders lost to the Steelers to drop to 6-9 and out of any realistic playoff scenarios when they benched Carr, signaling the end of his career with the Raiders.

The Broncos just dropped two straight to the Lions and Patriots to fall to 7-8 on the season. A record they achieved largely on the play of their outstanding defense.

Thus making for the one major difference between this situation and last year at this time. That’s because the Broncos still have a shot at the playoffs, so Stidham won’t just be playing out the string. They hope he can perform better than Wilson and give them their best chance at reaching the postseason.

What’s really interesting here is it could come down to facing his former team in his former home. The Broncos season finale is in Las Vegas exactly a year after Stidham last suited up in Silver & Black.

ESPN labels Saints one of the worst potential head coach openings

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put Dennis Allen on the hot seat and ranked the New Orleans Saints as one of the worst potential openings for a new head coach:

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently released his top-10 potential head coach openings this offseason, and the New Orleans Saints made the list. Three coaches have been let go in-season with the Los Angeles Chargers dismissing Brandon Staley after the Carolina Panthers ousted Frank Reich and the Las Vegas Raiders fired Josh McDaniels, so that accounts for three of the openings.

The other seven should be viewed as coaches on the hot seat, which includes Dennis Allen. The entire NFC South is on the list, a great reflection of the current landscape of the division. None of these four teams have met expectations.

New Orleans comes in at eighth on Barnwell’s list. In other words, they are viewed as the third-worst potential job. Only the Raiders and Panthers have less to offer a potential first-year head coach than the Saints, Barnwell says. The cons of an older roster, complicated salary cap outlook, and lack of draft capital overwhelmed the pros of a weak division and star power already on the roster.

It’s understandable for Barnwell to evaluate the Saints like this. New Orleans is getting older, specifically on the defensive side, without many young up-and-comers ready to take over. Alvin Kamara is approaching 30 years old, which is when many teams give up on running backs. The quarterback hasn’t performed well either but some of Derek Carr’s struggles fall on the coaching staff, which Barnwell points to as a reason for optimism — maybe a more creative play caller can get more out of him than Pete Carmichael has.

The roster’s age would be the best reason to say the job is less attractive. New Orleans is built to make one big push but the future is still in the air. There are some building blocks on this team, but it’s understandable why the team is low on the list. The Panthers come in at tenth on the top-10 list while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons rank at sixth and third respectively. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is the hottest name on the market ahead of the next hiring cycle but all four NFC South teams may struggle to attract him given their various challenges.

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Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing Dolphins’ Week 11 game with Raiders Wire

Inside information on Miami’s Week 11 opponent.

The 6-3 Miami Dolphins are hosting the 5-5 Las Vegas Raiders at Hard Rock Stadium for Miami’s fourth home game of their 2023 campaign.

Miami’s defense is fully healthy after waiting to Xavien Howard, Jalen Ramsey and Jevon Holland on the field at the same time, and they showed off their impressive abilities against the Kansas City Chiefs before their bye week. Now, they’ll have to slow down Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams, who are both among the league’s best at their respective positions.

Antonio Pierce’s team has found themselves on a two-game winning streak since Josh McDaniels was fired after their loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. They seem to be headed in the right direction now, but this will be their toughest test yet.

As we continue our previews for this weekend’s game, we spoke to Raiders Wire managing editor Marcus Mosher to learn some things about Las Vegas.