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LAS VEGAS — When Josh Jacobs limped off the field to the locker room at the end of the third quarter, I thought that should be it. Jacobs is a tough guy, but there is no reason for him to play again for the Las Vegas Raiders this season.
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And he should take Maxx Crosby with him.
Crosby is playing with a bad knee and is a maniac so he still had two sacks in the 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon. But there was a moment when he was slow getting off the grass and came out for a play, and risking the franchise player to spray some cologne on a 5-8 season makes no sense.
I had several other thoughts when I was later waiting for owner Mark Davis to finish his chat with interim coach Antonio Pierce. I was rolling off quite a list as I was sitting in the interview room for 45 minutes. The locker room closed for player access before Pierce even hit the podium — the first time I remember that happening in my 14 years covering the team.
Davis has long talked to coaches after the game, but this year he seems to be walking faster to the locker room. And he has a lot more to say. But only 3 points were scored in the game. What is there to talk about for 25 to 30 minutes?
When Pierce finally emerged, he was tighter than usual. There were no third-person references, which I’ve come to enjoy.
It took being asked three times before Pierce said he didn’t consider benching rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell for Jimmy Garoppolo. The Raiders had only eight first downs on offense, as the Vikings defense had O’Connell rattled even when it wasn’t hitting him. (I don’t know if going back to Garoppolo makes any sense, and “Why not?” is not an acceptable answer.)
Pierce would say he didn’t consider making the move because the Raiders offense was “moving” at times. Well, there were two times. The play when Hunter Renfrow ran away from defenders for 38 yards (he fumbled two plays later), and the desperation 24-yard last play of the game when Davante Adams pitched the ball to … guard Greg Van Roten.
Take away those two plays and O’Connell was 19-of-30 for 109 yards. And the Raiders averaged 2.7 yards per play.
Adams took off before the locker room opened to reporters. And I don’t blame him. He has complained nicely and not so nicely at different points this season.
What did you want him to say Sunday? It was an honor to play in the lowest-scoring indoor game in NFL history (per ESPN) and the first 3-0 game in Raiders history? That the Raiders offense is close to turning it around despite scoring 46 points in the past four games?
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Adams should probably just walk off with Jacobs and Crosby because he has nothing left to play for this season, either. The offense is broken beyond repair, and Adams is either the Raiders’ best asset to trade for draft picks in a rebuild or a centerpiece if they’re trying to strike lightning in a bottle with a new quarterback next season.
GO DEEPER
Raiders need serious changes on offense following home shutout loss to Vikings
The Raiders had a bye week to prepare for this game, but the same old offense came back and was even worse.
“No excuse there; it is shocking,” Pierce said. “Plenty of time to prepare for the opponent. We knew what they did. Nothing new. Just, again, poor coaching, poor performance by the players. Starts with myself.”
The Raiders have a game again this Thursday, at home against the Los Angeles Chargers, and this is going to be hard for many to hear, but the worst thing they can do is win.
I know Pierce is coaching for a chance to be the full-time coach, but finishing strong (if possible) sets the Raiders back again.
They need to draft a quarterback, and the choice or the chance to trade up will be a lot better if they finish 5-12 rather than 7-10.
It’s not tanking, per se. It’s giving your best players like Crosby and left tackle Kolton Miller (shoulder) a chance to heal while providing younger players with a chance to see if they can be part of the future plans.
It’s going to require some outside-the-box thinking from Davis, but he did that two years ago when he was desperate enough to hand the keys to the franchise to two guys from the hated New England Patriots, of all teams. He got the wrong two overconfident guys, but I respect the big swing.
This would be a similar move by an owner who wants to win, even if he has no idea how.
It would require Davis to make a decision now on interim general manager Champ Kelly. Davis has to follow his gut because nothing is going to change personnel-wise for him to think higher of Kelly in the next four weeks (unless first-round pick Tyree Wilson gets more sacks like the one he had Sunday — loved the celebratory roll of the dice, by the way).
And then it would require Davis and Kelly to decide on Pierce now.
The five games are a good enough sample. The players respect and play hard for Pierce, and the defense continues to improve under him and coordinator Patrick Graham. It had five sacks and 11 quarterback hits, and though Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs was terrible and benched for Nick Mullens, Dobbs has played well at times, so give the defense its flowers.
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(If not for cornerback Jack Jones taking an ill-advised swipe at the ball, I could have been a part of the first scoreless tie in the NFL in 80 years. I was mapping out that column in the second quarter. Where were we …)
The putrid offense? You can’t blame Pierce for that. Apparently, there is still a virus left from the Josh McDaniels era in the digital playbook and O’Connell might just be a solid backup with bad feet.
The time management and timeout use? Yeah, they’ve been a problem these past five games. But they also fall on other members of the staff and are something Pierce will get better at with experience. And with hand-picked members of his staff, if that’s the direction the Raiders are going in.
One name you hear a lot around the league and team is former Stanford coach David Shaw, a Raiders assistant from 1998 to 2001. Whether that would be as a head coach or offensive coordinator, the crystal ball is a bit foggy.
Plus, the Raiders still have four games to play.
Pierce said there might be changes this week.
“We’ll evaluate everything going forward,” he said. “The whole football program. Our whole program, everybody. Got to win — it isn’t good enough. So, got to win.”
I don’t know if that came straight from Davis’ mouth. And how much of it is due to postgame frustration or anger on both their parts. But putting undue importance on these past four games is a shortsighted move for an organization that can’t get out of its way.
Sit Jacobs, have four or five guys restrain Crosby from playing again this season and start planning for next season and beyond.
(Top photo of Josh Jacobs: John Locher / Associated Press)
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