Raiders vs Cardinals 2022 Week 2: Studs and Duds
Raiders vs Cardinals 2022 Week 2: Studs and Duds
Dud – Josh McDaniels and the Coaching Staff
Where do we even begin about this coaching staff’s performance in the second half and overtime? After a first half that went as close to perfect as it gets in the NFL, things began to unravel in the second half in a major way.
The offense went conservative and stagnant and Josh McDaniels couldn’t seem to find his groove as a play-caller. During the game I tweeted that this game felt too familiar to the Jon Gruden era where the Raiders would go up by a few scores and rather than step on their opponent’s neck, they would turtle up and let them hang around and get back in the game. Off the top of my head, the games against Miami and the LA Chargers come to mind as games that never should have been as close as they were at the end.
On the defensive side, the defense chose to sit back and play a prevent-type defense against Arizona which is understandable given the circumstances and score but there was not enough rotation on the defensive line. Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones played 90% or more of the team’s snaps and guys that played well in preseason like Tashawn Bower played just 8 snaps. Another young defensive end Malcolm Koonce played no snaps on defense which is inexcusable considering how long the defense was on the field in the second half.
Next. Las Vegas Raiders at Chargers 2022 Week 1: Studs and Duds. dark
This is the type of game that can derail an entire season if the players begin to lose faith in the coaching staff and if the Raiders don’t right the ship in Week 3 we are in for a brutally long season. I am not ready to close the book on this season as there are still 16 weeks to go and a lot can happen between now and January but a loss in Week 3 would be the nail in the coffin and we can begin to look to 2023.