Always remember: they beat the Ravens.
The Raiders season is officially off the rails. After what now looks like the best win they're going to get all year, things have gone from bad to worse ever since. Davante Adams probably isn't coming back, the defense looks strangely medicore (which is putting it nicely) and, as it turns out, Gardner Minshew isn't actually that good.
Minshew had his roughest day yet as a Raider on Sunday, going 12/17 for 137 yards and two of the most comically bad interceptions you'll see all season. It was enough, apparently, for Antonio Pierce to decide that benching him was the move. And normally, benching your starting QB in the middle of the game would be the story of the afternoon. The problem is that nothing about the Raiders is normal, and this is only the second of what figures to be approximately 400 in-game QB changes that'll happen this season.
RELATED: Rex Ryan slams Davante Adams during Sunday NFL Countdown
At the very least, the move made fans happy. And sure, maybe it is an ironic happiness, but you take what you can get when you're losing by three scores to the Denver Broncos.
The Raiders benched Gardner Minshew and fans are STOKED
OMG Gardner Minshewpic.twitter.com/yhqVh0wTGU
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 6, 2024
Raiders QB Gardner Minshew after throwing that pick six pic.twitter.com/hYkHUSQxwq
— RaiderRamble.com™ (@TheRaiderRamble) October 6, 2024
Gardner Minshew pic.twitter.com/PzrWpwoOHR
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 6, 2024
AOC And Gardner Minshew apparently shared notes this game.
— Just TANK baby (@RaiderJay00) October 6, 2024
I told you guys it doesn't matter which one of these quarterbacks starts. The offense is garbage. They both suck 😂
Gardner Minshew managed to make an entire team quit
— CASEY Green (@GreenCasey32697) October 6, 2024
When in doubt, make fun of Gardner Minshew. It always plays. It's not like Aidan O'Connell is any better – he literally couldn't beat Minshew for the starting job – but after a few quarters of pure, uncut Minshew, O'Connell's specific brand of bland game-manager starts to look pretty good.
If there's one thing that would overshadow another week of Davante Adams' Instagram stories, it's a quarterback controversy. Maybe Antonio Pierce is onto something here! He's playing chess while we're all playing checkers, etc. That's definitely the reason. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself while watching O'Connell throw the same interceptions that Minshew did. But if Arch Manning's at the end of the rainbow, it'll all be worth it. Until then, Kinda Funny Tweets will have to do.