The Las Vegas Raiders went into their Week 7 matchup with the Chicago Bears on the heels of a two-game winning streak at home. Going on the road and playing in the early window, the Silver and Black were still expected to take care of business, moving over .500 as a team for the first time since the 2021 season.
However, as has been the case all season long, a string of bad decisions by head coach Josh McDaniels sealed the Raiders fate in this one. First, McDaniels decided to start Brian Hoyer over Aidan O'Connell, and from the outset, it was clear that Hoyer was the wrong choice to be the team's starting quarterback in Week 7.
Hoyer struggled from the outset, failing to sustain any drives against a very beatable Bears defense, and in the end, had to be replaced by O'Connell with the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. In the end, the blowout loss to the Bears was one of the worst in recent memory, and it could be 'all she wrote' for McDaniels as the team's head coach.
Raiders conservative approach sealed the loss, and hopefully, McDaniels' fate
Hoyer finished the game 17-of-32 passing with a couple of interceptions, while O'Connell was able to orchestrate the team's only touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. With Jimmy Garoppolo returning next week, another mistake by McDaniels in bringing him in to replace Derek Carr this season, we have likely seen the last of Hoyer, a career journeyman who never should have been expected to win this game on Sunday.
The final straw for Davis should have come in the fourth quarter, as McDaniels decided to kick a field goal with the team down 18 points and 12:20 left in the game. It was another bonehead call by a head coach who is definitely over his head when it comes to the position.
Daniel Carlson made the field goal, but the decision forced the team to try and score two touchdowns after that, as well as connect on a two-point conversion. With the way Hoyer was moving the ball, that was a nearly impossible scenario, and in the end should be the last bad decision McDaniels is allowed to make as head coach of this once-proud franchise.