3 terrible decisions by the Raiders during the 2023 season
By Brad Weiss
Waiting too long to fire Josh McDaniels
You could see signs during the 2022 NFL season that Josh McDaniels was not the right hire for the Silver and Black. He took over a franchise that went to the playoffs the year before and tried to install the Patriot Way in Las Vegas, something that would eventually backfire for him.
Going into the 2023 season, McDaniels continued to reshape the Raiders roster with 'his guys,' but it seemed like every move he made was a bad one. By the time the Raiders were destroyed on national television by the Detroit Lions, Mark Davis had seen enough, and fired McDaniels, general manager Dave Ziegler, and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi.
However, the firing of McDaniels came far too late for the Raiders to make a run to the playoffs. Sitting at 3-5 after horrible losses to not only the Lions, but the lowly Chicago Bears in back-to-back weeks, the Raiders would have needed a miracle to be one of the final teams standing in the AFC when the playoffs rolled around.
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce nearly pulled it off, but in the end, Davis should have seen the writing on the wall and got rid of McDaniels after bad early-season losses to Buffalo and Pittsburgh.