What is Going on With the Raiders?
By Colin Dixon October 23rd, 2018
Picture Via @ardenkey Twitter
As of yesterday October 22nd, the Raiders have traded away another fan favorite in Amari Cooper (ESPN). Cooper has been struggling of late with only 22 catches all year and only 1 touchdown. Cooper was traded to the Dallas Cowboys who will look to utilize him as their number 1 wide receiver.
Along with the news of Cooper being traded away the Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch was placed on injured reserve. Lynch is out on a groin injury that will have him out until December 24th at the earliest (Bleacher Report).
The Raiders organization is falling apart right in front of their face. For the Raiders the move to Las Vegas seems like it cannot come soon enough. The fans are angry and the players are unhappy with where their organization is going. Where do all the fingers point? Right at Jon Gruden who has done nothing but move this organization in the wrong direction since being hired.
With two main parts of the offense gone the Raiders will need QB Derek Carr to step up his game as he has been struggling all season. Carr has 7 touchdowns to his 8 interceptions so far in 2018. In a league where quarterbacks need to be productive all the time is it obvious that the Raiders quarterback needs to step up his play if his team will ever be good under coach Jon Gruden.
With Carr's struggles it looks like he is losing control of his team. The Raiders captain has been a major leader in the locker room ever since he was drafted but with a dismantled team it has been proven that it has been a tough task to lead this Raiders team.
The man in charge, Jon Gruden, has not adapted to the current wave of the NFL. After a 9-year absence from coaching in the league coach Gruden has only found his Raiders in the win column once since he made his return.
When Gruden signed his 10 year $10 million contract in January of 2018 many Raiders fans were excited about the future and how he was going to lead the silver and black back to the promise land.
Gruden has done nothing except disappoint the Raiders fans with a 1-5 start to the 2018 season. Along with the rough start, the fans have not forgiven him for trading away their best player in Khalil Mack to the Bears.
Without the ferocious Mack leading the defense the Raiders defense has looked lost all season. The defense is allowing an average of 29.3 points per game.
With a weak offense who just lost 2 of its biggest weapons, the Raiders defensive unit needs to step up because the Raiders offense won't be able to compete in any offensive shootouts this year.
Although in my mind the Raiders won the Amari Cooper trade with the Cowboys because they got a 1st round draft pick for him, they still only have 1 win in 6 games and based off of their upcoming schedule it is looking like the Raiders might not even win 5 games this year.
Picture Via @ardenkey Twitter
As of yesterday October 22nd, the Raiders have traded away another fan favorite in Amari Cooper (ESPN). Cooper has been struggling of late with only 22 catches all year and only 1 touchdown. Cooper was traded to the Dallas Cowboys who will look to utilize him as their number 1 wide receiver.
Along with the news of Cooper being traded away the Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch was placed on injured reserve. Lynch is out on a groin injury that will have him out until December 24th at the earliest (Bleacher Report).
The Raiders organization is falling apart right in front of their face. For the Raiders the move to Las Vegas seems like it cannot come soon enough. The fans are angry and the players are unhappy with where their organization is going. Where do all the fingers point? Right at Jon Gruden who has done nothing but move this organization in the wrong direction since being hired.
With two main parts of the offense gone the Raiders will need QB Derek Carr to step up his game as he has been struggling all season. Carr has 7 touchdowns to his 8 interceptions so far in 2018. In a league where quarterbacks need to be productive all the time is it obvious that the Raiders quarterback needs to step up his play if his team will ever be good under coach Jon Gruden.
With Carr's struggles it looks like he is losing control of his team. The Raiders captain has been a major leader in the locker room ever since he was drafted but with a dismantled team it has been proven that it has been a tough task to lead this Raiders team.
The man in charge, Jon Gruden, has not adapted to the current wave of the NFL. After a 9-year absence from coaching in the league coach Gruden has only found his Raiders in the win column once since he made his return.
When Gruden signed his 10 year $10 million contract in January of 2018 many Raiders fans were excited about the future and how he was going to lead the silver and black back to the promise land.
Gruden has done nothing except disappoint the Raiders fans with a 1-5 start to the 2018 season. Along with the rough start, the fans have not forgiven him for trading away their best player in Khalil Mack to the Bears.
Without the ferocious Mack leading the defense the Raiders defense has looked lost all season. The defense is allowing an average of 29.3 points per game.
With a weak offense who just lost 2 of its biggest weapons, the Raiders defensive unit needs to step up because the Raiders offense won't be able to compete in any offensive shootouts this year.
Although in my mind the Raiders won the Amari Cooper trade with the Cowboys because they got a 1st round draft pick for him, they still only have 1 win in 6 games and based off of their upcoming schedule it is looking like the Raiders might not even win 5 games this year.
