Coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler have been sacked by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Owner Mark Davis issued a statement on Tuesday night stating, After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave.
I want to express my gratitude for their efforts and send my best wishes to them, their families, and themselves.
Before the end of his second season, McDaniels becomes the only non-interim coach in the history of the Super Bowl to be dismissed by two different teams.
Antonio Pierce, the Raiders’ linebackers coach, will assume temporary coaching duties. He will play his debut game at home on Sunday against the Giants, with whom he was a player from 2005 to 2009.
Additionally, Las Vegas declared that Champ Kelly, the assistant general manager, will serve as the team’s temporary general manager and that, following the season, they will look for McDaniels and Ziegler’s replacements.
According to NFL Network, the Raiders are also cutting ties with offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi, promoting quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree in his place. This season, Las Vegas hasn’t scored more than 19 points in a single game.
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highlights from Week 8 of the NFL season between the Detroit Lions and Las Vegas Raiders
When Davis brought Josh McDaniels, the veteran offensive coordinator for the Patriots, he had planned to expand New England’s success westward.
Ziegler was employed by New England’s front office. He and his former John Carroll University teammates signed players with connections to the organization, turning the Raiders into the Patriots West.
But even though Davis took over a 2021 playoff-caliber club and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wildcard round, the success he so desperately desired never arrived in Las Vegas.
Under McDaniels, the Raiders finished 6-11 in 2022 and are 3-5 this year. He had an 11–17 record while he was in Denver.
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Amik Robertson of the Las Vegas Raiders wins the game for the Raiders as he intercepts a ball in front of Christian Watson of the Green Bay Packers in the end zone.
Nevertheless, Davis has defended McDaniels, and it’s unexpected that he was fired at this particular time.
In order to address confronting the Giants, McDaniels held a second news conference on Wednesday morning after meeting with the media early on Tuesday afternoon.
However, McDaniels faced certain obstacles. Since the start of the previous season, the Raiders have lost eight of their last nine games in which they failed to score at least 20 points, and his forte is offense.
The only game in which Las Vegas came close to that total was on October 15, when they defeated the Patriots 21–17 thanks to a safety in the fourth quarter.
The public discontent displayed by several of his players could have been equally detrimental. Particularly since the off-season, standout wide receiver Davante Adams has expressed his reservations about the team’s future.
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Wide receiver Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders was obviously irritated during the Lions’ loss because he was unable to connect with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo several times.
Josh Jacobs, the running back, responded, I don’t know, that ain’t my job, when asked what would ignite the offense following Monday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions.
The losses in the last two weeks have been especially humiliating for Las Vegas, which fell 30-12 to Chicago and undrafted rookie former Division II quarterback Tyson Bagent before being utterly incompetent in Monday night’s 26-14 loss to Detroit.
Among Raiders coaches with at least 25 games under their belt, McDaniels had the third-worst record at the end of his career.
Additionally, there have been rumors that Aidan O’Connell, a rookie quarterback, would replace Jimmy Garoppolo in Sunday’s game.
When Garoppolo was sidelined with a concussion in the Raiders’ Week Four road defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers, O’Connell, a 25-year-old Purdue native selected in the fourth round, was on the field.
Due to Garoppolo’s back injury in Week Seven’s road defeat to the Chicago Bears, O’Connell replaced starting Brian Hoyer.
In his first two games, O’Connell has completed 34 of 52 passes for 313 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He has one running touchdown and has been sacked seven times.
Garoppolo, who turns 32 on Thursday, took over as the Raiders’ starting quarterback in March after Derek Carr was traded for a three-year, $72.75 million ($34 million guaranteed) deal.
In six games this season, Garoppolo has thrown an NFL-high nine interceptions while completing 65.5% of his passes for 1,205 yards and seven touchdowns.
