It seems that the big boss of the Raiders called his coach and his CEO in the wee hours of Wednesday, and obviously, it was not to tell them that they are doing an excellent job.
When the boss calls like that in the middle of the night, it’s usually not a good sign. We now know the rest: the coach in question (Josh McDaniels) as well as the GM in question (Dave Ziegler) will have to go do something else, because they are no longer employees of the Raiders.
It’s all still fascinating. These Raiders, once legendary, are no longer legendary. Al Davis, once the owner of this team, used to say “just win, baby” to his troops, to the point of having this phrase printed all over Oakland, on t-shirts, mugs and plaques registration.
But like the Canadian or Nana Mouskouri, the glory of the Raiders is now in the history books, and Mark Davis, current owner of the club, son of the other and guy who seems to cut his hair himself- even, decided that it was enough.
PHOTO DAVID BECKER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis
The decision is understandable because the fired duo made blunders, including hiring former Patriots players at the end of their tether. But in the immediate future, what will it change? Nothing, because Antonio Pierce, new interim coach, will have to deal with the same bad training.
That includes Jimmy Garoppolo, a quarterback who too often looks like a deer blinded by the lights of a car on the highway (and who must now give way to rookie Aidan O’Connell), and wide receiver Davante Adams, returning from a game where he caught a ball for 11 yards. Also, Adams has not scored a single touchdown since the third week of play, and we take this opportunity to remind you that the Raiders gave the Packers a first-round pick and a second-round pick last year to get their hands on on this guy.
The Raiders are not here by chance. Over the years, the leaders of this team have made so many bad decisions that they could make those of the New York Jets look like Nobel Prize contenders. With bad decisions come bad results, and that’s why the Raiders have made the playoffs exactly twice in 21 years.
This is not what Al Davis had in mind when he said his famous phrase.
Sure, injuries in real football are like taxes, death, and Mariah Carey singing Christmas, but while we understand that reality very well, what’s happening to the Vikings right now is a disaster, nothing less. .
Because the Minnesota club was finally looking good. Three victories in a row, convincing performances, and a quarter who played at the height of his talent. But that all just went to hell with the injury to Kirk Cousins, the quarterback in question, who is now lost for the year.
PHOTO AL DIAZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had surgery this week to repair a torn Achilles tendon in his right foot.
The Vikings have sought reinforcement in the person of Joshua Dobbs, acquired this week from the Arizona Cards, but will that be enough? In the meantime, it will be a green rookie, Jaren Hall, who will be in charge on Sunday in Atlanta.
This is not to assume that the Vikings were going straight to the Super Bowl with Cousins, but there are events like that that change the course of a season. Talk to the Patriots, who don’t know how to win since their quarterback isn’t named Tom Brady.
Other than that, has everyone recovered well from the match of the year? We are of course talking about this exciting Jets-Giants last Sunday, during which these two swamp powers made a total of 24 punts, one more than the number of points scored. In the future, the Secret Service could obtain confessions just by threatening a suspect to force him to watch the entire match again.
With all that, the Jets find themselves with a nice 4-3 record. It’s just enough to give hope to their fans, who will be back to throwing empty bottles of Colt 45 at the TV soon enough when this team gets back to doing what they do best, which is- i.e. lose.
The great Bill Parcells liked to say that you should never jump to conclusions before Thanksgiving (the American version, of course), and we’re almost there.
In the meantime, there will be big football on Sunday in our living rooms. The Dolphins will be in Kansas City to face the Chiefs and Taylor Swift, the Seahawks will be in Baltimore to show the whole world that they are serious, and then finally, THE game of the weekend, the one between the Dallas Cowboys to the Eagles in Philadelphia, in what could be a preview of the final of this conference, if the 49ers do not recover.
This is not to be missed under any circumstances, including your own death.