Gordon: Josh McDaniels failed to adequately prepare Raiders
NEW ORLEANS — This was supposed to be the juncture of the NFL season that offered the Raiders some reprieve. That allowed them to right the wrongs of their 1-4 start and join the rest of the aspiring contenders in what promises to be a spirited battle for playoff positioning.
The schedule was supposed to soften.
Instead, the Raiders did — melting Sunday into a Silver and Black puddle before another sellout Caesars Superdome crowd that periodically posed a familiar line of questioning.
“Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints?”
Certainly not the Raiders, considering how poorly they prepared to play them Saints, who sported the league’s second-worst scoring defense through the first seven weeks of the season and still managed to skunk the third-ranked scoring offense — delivering the Silver and Black puddle a 24-0 loss for the Raiders’ first shutout since Nov. 30, 2014.
It’s as if the Raiders didn’t practice last week.
And they probably wouldn’t have played any worse if they hadn’t — considering they couldn’t cross midfield until the 3:15 mark of the fourth quarter.
“I have to do a much better job of getting ourselves ready to go here,” said Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, he with the 7-22 record since the first six games of his disastrous tenure in Denver. “That’s my responsibility. So we have to be much better, obviously, in every phase of the game to be able to compete with a team like that who is well coached. That has good players. That obviously came ready to play.”
‘Got to be better’
The “well-coached” team that McDaniels referenced was allowing 28.6 points per game and averaging the third-most penalties among the NFL’s 32 teams. It was also averaging a league-high 2.3 giveaways per game under a man that Raiders fans might remember — Dennis Allen, who improved to 11-33 as a coach after schooling McDaniels and his staff.
Unlike McDaniels’ team, Allen’s seemed to have a plan: Pepper the Raiders with short passes to running back Alvin Kamara and bottle up the league’s third-leading rusher, Josh Jacobs. Kamara caught nine passes for 96 yards and two scores, and added a rushing touchdown, while Jacobs was limited to a season-low 43 yards.
Good thing the Raiders also have Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow.
Except they couldn’t figure out how to get them the ball amid the swarming pressure they were powerless to combat.
The Pro Bowl wideouts combined to catch two passes for 9 yards, reflecting an inability to successfully scheme them touches in space or adjust to the tenor that the pressure would create. Derek Carr endured three sacks and eight additional hits before ceding the quarterbacking to backup Jarrett Stidham, who was sacked once and hit once more amid his thrilling excursion past midfield.
Saints quarterback Andy Dalton wasn’t hit once, let alone sacked, as he more so resembled the great Drew Brees than a veteran journeyman on his third team in three seasons.
“We’ve performed and played much better than this. We’ve coached better than this,” McDaniels said. “Dennis did a great job with his team today, and, like I said, I’ve got to be better.”
Time is ticking
That McDaniels does, because the Raiders offered nothing Sunday.
At least he followed suit, declining afterward to offer an excuse. There aren’t any excuses for these types of performances, especially for a team with designs of playing deep into January like their aggressive offseason would suggest they are.
“There’s a lot of football still left to be played and coached,” McDaniels said. “Clearly, we need to improve in all three phases. That’s my job. That’s our responsibility.”
A lot of football to be played and coached, indeed.
That is, until there isn’t.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.