The Las Vegas Raiders are 3-4, and somehow their season feels so much worse than that.
Swapping out Derek Carr for Jimmy Garoppolo had roughly the effect we all expected, as the trade-up from Applebee’s to Chili’s failed to convince fans they were being served anything more than microwaved food. A stellar offensive line effort is being wasted by an unremarkable passing game that’s been forced to throw Brian Hoyer and Aidan O’Connell into the mix due to Garoppolo’s injury concerns. The defense, as is tradition, is a constellation of one or two straggling stars and the cold, dark expanse of dead space behind it.
And the architect of it all is a head coach unable or unwilling to change from a meticulously planned, destined-to-fail playbook.
Behold, Josh McDaniels, once again dazzling NFL fans with his lack of situational awareness and indefatigable commitment to crap. The man who helped Tom Brady attain greatness remains unable to coax the same from regular NFL players, and he’s made that the Las Vegas Raiders’ problem the past season-plus. He’s a leading candidate to lose his job when Black Monday — the first day after the regular season ends — rolls around. Who could join him?
Sean Payton and Bill Belichick, each coming off wins and unlikely to be “fired” fired this winter, reached the exit velocity to escape this list’s gravity … for now. Their spots have been replaced by a couple familiar names when it comes to coaching hot seats. Let’s see who leads the fireability rankings after Week 7 (it’s McDaniels. We all knew this).