“It’s Not Working” – Rich Eisen on the Raiders Falling to 2-8 after 33-16 MNF Rout by the Cowboys

“It’s Not Working” – Rich Eisen on the Raiders Falling to 2-8 after 33-16 MNF Rout by the Cowboys

The Raiders have, in my estimation, a guy who’s got a Hall of Fame credential at the head coaching spot. The Raiders have an allworld defensive end and you’re not going to tell Max Crosby you’re, you know, you’re done for the year, so why do you care, right? And say what you will about Gino Smith’s ability to play football still, but he is a veteran who knows that this could be a last chance. He was a guy who basically said, you know, everyone wrote me off, but I never wrote back, right? Um well, people are beginning to write the same letter to him right now, and his ability to never write back is in question. because they can’t protect him. And the play calling last night was to come up with the chunk plays on play action. And for one drive, it looked to really work in that first quarter last night. They were cooking um off of those play actions, but they couldn’t put it in the end zone and they were settling for field goals. tipped interception, killed the drive, and then CD Lamb finally caught a pass. And then George Pickkins caught a more more passes. And then Jake Ferguson got in on the act. Florenoi got in on the act, right? I mean, uh, Williams was running it down their throat. And so the ability to to keep up with the Cowboys, they just couldn’t do it. And you know, Gino to his credit, and this is why I think Pete keeps sticking with him rather than going to pick it. And um it’s because this is his guy and he takes the heat and he does it like this. Yeah. I mean, you can check into any play at any time, but would that be the right thing to do? Would you just go off script and just start calling your own plays? I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. You know, I think the right thing to do is to do what we practice and what we we’re coached to do. And uh like I said, the plays are there. I don’t think there was any issue with the play calling. Um the plays were there, guys were open. You know, you guys watch the film. I know we got a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks um who who like to watch film and take screenshots and see where guys are open. So, I’m sure you guys will see where the guys were open. Um for me, again, I just got to play better. And I keep saying this, man. If something don’t look right out there, blame it on me, right? If it don’t look right, blame it on me. That’s that’s that’s all you can do. Blame it on me. If your kids mess up at school, blame it on me. Car break down going to work, blame it on me. So Gino’s sick of us blaming him for everything. I got it. I I I know. And Pete, you know, took the uh responsibility as well last night cuz you know, Chip Kelly’s trending. He should Chip Kelly’s trending and everyone’s like, you know, we’re paying him millions of dollars. Well, I think 1 million a year for the number of carries his running back got last night against a Cowboy defense that supposed to not be able to stop the run. And even though that is Kenny Clark next to Quinnon Williams for the first time, they didn’t even give it a test. They didn’t even test it out. They didn’t even take that out for a spin. They didn’t take their, you know, Jason Stance Ferrari out for a spin. This is what Pete had to say after. Pete, uh, you mentioned that the balance got out of whack there a little bit. It was 31 drop backs in that first half, three runs. Is that I mean, I can’t imagine that that’s something that you like to to look at. Yeah, it wasn’t 31 drop backs. It was a bunch of play action passes and and really I really wanted to see us do that. And then and there’s only one person to look at, me um because I I was influenced on the game plan. I I don’t really care about pleasing people with our run pass mix. I’m trying to move the football and uh wanted to get the ball to Brock a bunch and see what he could do and our other guys and and that that kind of worked out. But uh when you come back to it, we were supposed to be ahead with that approach and then we’re supposed to come back and run the football in the second half and later in the second quarter, but our inability to get in the zone or and to stop them didn’t it didn’t work out that way. So, um I’m I’m totally responsible for how that happened. Nothing looks good right now. Certainly again when you draft a kid like Ashton Genty as high as they drafted him and it’s a Monday night football game and it’s week 12 and your season is circling the drain and he’s not doing anything and um and then a rookie standing in front of his locker. What’s he going to is he going to call out somebody like Pete Carol who’s done it, you know, for decades while he was in diapers, you know what I mean? So, we’ll hit it. No, I mean I don’t call the plays. I mean, that’s that’s up to the guys upstairs. So, I just take whatever I get. Is it frustrating not getting the ball more? Nah, I mean, I’m just get whatever I I get, man. I I can’t control that. Yeah. I mean, he’s he’s not going to sit there and calling a question his coaches as a rookie in the middle of the season. He’s just It’s not working. It’s not working right now. Nothing’s working. And the problem is if Gino, is he the quarterback of the future? That’s the tough thing is when you have two wins entering week 12 and your quarterback of the future is most likely not on the roster. And I I and and it’s laudiatory that you’ve got a coach who’s taken the credit because he’s trying to protect the quarterback, who’s taken the who’s taking the blame because he wants to protect the coach. That’s all admirable. But it when it comes down to it, what does Tom Brady think of it? Notice I didn’t say the owner. I mean, let’s be honest. What What does What does Tom think of? He was there last night. I know he was. I I I imagine he I I didn’t watch the entire game frame by frame. I was flipping around. Did they show him? Was he visible? Yeah, they showed him, but he was not, you know, he’s not wasn’t like before. He didn’t have the headset on, which which caused alarms and bells to to go off. What does Tom think of it? Does Tom think that that Pete’s the voice in the room that needs to be in the room? Would Tom dare to one and done Pete Carol or you got to let him put his winning historically winning culture change approach to work? Or does Pete just say, “Yeah, Chip, it’s not working out here. We got to go to something do something else.” What if? Yes. Tom lets Pete go. and brings in Bill. I think that’s crazy talk. I would be stunned. I think that’s absolutely crazy talk. I was think I was trying to think of the most ridiculous thing I could come up with. You just did. I was What if though? That’s it. But Pete, he kind of before. Yeah. What’s the difference between when when when Bill was already available? Uh I I honestly listen, I’m biased. I I don’t think Pete’s the issue except the fact that they chose a quarterback who is not um performing well. And part of that may be because they can’t protect him. He can’t he’s not protectable right now. And one way to protect the guys, run the kid. Run the kid. That’s the run the kid. But the kid doesn’t The kid keeps getting hit as soon as he hits the line. when they do when they do give it to him. Yeah, the offensive line is pretty bad. They lost the starter last week. I was kind of thinking the reverse. Gino’s been so bad they can’t run the football. Yeah. I mean, it all one one thing always cascades into another. You know, it’s just kind of been a disaster. I mean, they’re going to have a top five pick. They have to take a quarterback in the draft. Do they? Can’t run it back with Gino. So, well, I’m not saying they don’t I’m not saying they do that. They find a reclamation project. Everybody seems to have one. You go get M. Jones trade for Tua. Kyler Murray’s going to be available. I don’t know. There’s there’s choices. It all comes down to backups out there. What does Tom Brady think? Yeah. Because if I am Mark Davis again, I’ll take the haircut. I want to see what I’m asking him. Why the hell wouldn’t you ask him? Why wouldn’t you turn? By the way, I saw the other day uh cuz he called Bears and the Vikings. They had the two shot of him and Birkhart on up and it’s still jarring to me, man. It says seventime Super Bowl champ under his name. I mean, it’s and I’m like, that is stupid. Yeah, it it really is. And he’s just standing there with a microphone or right just hey KB7 Super Bowl champ. It’s not a misprint. It’s not like call the graphics department and say hey you made a mistake. I mean, yeah, it’s just I I I don’t think I’ll ever not like get jarred by seeing that on a screen. All time passing. Why wouldn’t you go, you know? Well, I’m sure that he is had the input. You heard the reports from the draft that he was kind of dictating a lot of it. So, so, but so this is his vision like let’s get Pete, let’s bring in Chip Kelly. Gino Smith is 100% when that move was made. I fully supported it because that was an upgrade over, you know, the spinning wheels that they had at the position, right? Um I think Antonio Pierce would have taken um Gino in a heartbeat, don’t you think? When he was the HC there. So, these are the best league plans in the same way of like let’s play action pass it and then we’ll get a lead and then we’ll jam Ashton Genty down their throats and that’s the way we’re going to be at the Dallas Cowboys. Except for the fact that the playaction passes weren’t resulting in touchdowns. They resulted in field goals until the Cowboys offense began to get its footing. I mean, Pete had to look across the way and say, “Is that CD Lamb and George Pickins standing there for the first drive on a three and out like, okay, let’s play action him. Let’s go down the field. Let’s put some touchdowns on the board.” Instead, they put on field goals. The Cowboys got done what they got done and now it’s time to run Ashton Genty. No. And then at the end of the day, you look down at the play sheet and you see your quarterback who can’t be protected with all those dropbacks part and play actions, which is, you know, an appropriate parsing. Like a drop back is like, let’s just fade back. There’s no there’s no other there’s no other trickery to this play other than let’s just fade back and be a sitting duck there. But you’d look down and everybody looks foolish that Ashen Genty got six carries. That’s it. So, what does Tom think? You know, we’re going to find out because Mark Davis is going to ask him. That’s an it’s a an impressive tool in the uh in the uh in the arsenal. Oh, yeah. They can get I mean, his contract is structured as such where it’s it’s only $18.5 million dead cap if they release him. You know, he’s due an $8 million roster bonus on the third day of the league league year. So, The way Pete does his business is you got to hit the line, man. Just take a look when Marshall was running all over everybody. He had a Hutch up front there, man. With with with Homegrren, I mean, that’s the way that it was working there. And then and then, you know, Pete comes in and it’s time to run the ball with Marawn, too, and let’s go. Everything starts up front. You know what I mean? Like for him, too, you also have those and that’s why you don’t trade Max Crosby. You get a bunch of guys who can rush the passer and start changing them in. You get big, tall, long guys in the back end to play defense and you run the ball and you can play action off of it like that. It’s a winning formula where everybody on the roster can play and compete. But right now, you know, they always compete. There’s a bunch of young kids that I don’t think they they’re they’re they’re trusting to play. He’s just got to sell. I mean, if you hired him, you got to you got to give him some time to let his mantra sink in, his fingerprints on. But the problem is is, you know, there’s some fans out there that are probably like, I don’t care who’s taking responsibility for this. Somebody’s just got to take it cuz we just can’t watch this sort of stuff. And I think for the Raiders, um, you know, fortunately for them, I I it’s their last nationally televised game where everybody in the whole country is just sitting there talking about it. they can hopefully retool in some anonymity in a way. Problem is for them after Cleveland comes in at the Chargers, home for Denver, at Philly, at Houston, there’s a game that could be on NFL Network or nationally televised in week 17, but I don’t think Vegas hosting the Giants is going to be that. And they’re they got Kansas City in Vegas the last weekend. So, if you keep Pete and Chip I think they’re gonna I don’t know. I don’t know about I have no I listen I have no insight on that. What do I He’s saying it’s a fun Kyler Murray spot. That’s Russell Wilson vibes. Yep. I got it. Yep. Let Kyler cook. Yeah. Yep. It’s not bad. Run a little RPO with Chip. You run a little fun, which by the way, college offense. I I think Pete um bristles at the let Russ cook thing cuz who’s the one who let him on the field in the kitchen to begin with? Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

Rich Eisen weighs in on the Las Vegas Raiders looking hapless in falling to 2-8 on the season after their 33-16 Week 11 beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

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