Where is the Las Vegas Raiders window for success?
By Sean Basile
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is here for the long haul
First, we have to talk about head coach Jon Gruden. Like the Raiders as a team, the jig seems to be up with him, as the formula has been figured out. The strong start to the season, followed by midseason expectations, followed by collapses. That is what the past two years have been, and (kind of) what all his teams have been outside of his Super Bowl year with the Bucs.
I know Raiders fans know this already, but Mark Davis LOVES him some Jon Gruden, almost to the point of the detriment it seems. David shoved all of his chips in the middle of the table for Gruden, giving him $100 million, so this is a guy the franchise is either going to sink or swim with moving forward.
In his defense, this team did defeat the Kansas City Chiefs on the road this season, and have brought in some good young talent, but does he still have what it takes to win in today’s NFL?
And what about Gus Bradley?
Now, I’ll admit to you, hearing about the Raiders signing Bradley jogged my brain to question if the Raiders were indeed moving forward or not as a franchise because the move fell a little flat in my opinion. However, maybe I was misguided in my premise since Bradley did in fact put together “Sacksonville” through the draft, though he never really reaped the benefits of it when the Jags finished 10-6 and went to the AFC Championship in 2017.
He was also in charge of the Legion of Boom when Seattle was in its heyday defensively, as well as a Chargers defense he helped put together and nurtured into becoming one of the league’s top defenses in 2018.
He was fantastic for LA in 2017-18, so perhaps I jumped the gun too quickly.
Or maybe I didn’t, and what we saw out of his defenses in 2019-20 is what I’m basing my initial displeasure with signing him on. The Chargers defense was middle of the road in 2019, and trending towards bad this past season, so now I don’t know what to think.
The defense is what the Raiders need more than water right now, yet I don’t know if present-day Gus Bradley is the definitive answer. Another reason to question if the Raiders are regressing or not.