RAIDERS SQUAD SHOW: Las Vegas RAIDERS vs Denver BRONCOS PREVIEW | Who Needs To STEP UP?

RAIDERS SQUAD SHOW: Las Vegas RAIDERS vs Denver BRONCOS PREVIEW | Who Needs To STEP UP?

Raider Nation. Well, the Raiders going to be taking on the Broncos. And the last time they played the Broncos on Thursday night, it was a close game. Some would have called it a snoozefest. But the big question is, are the Raiders going to look a little bit different and better in this matchup against the Broncos? We’re going to break it all down on today’s episode. Raider Nation, Professor Kennedy here. Yeah, we got the Donkeys coming to town and I’m hoping that we can kick some ass. No pun intended. We’ll see how the Raiders do. We’ll talk about it on the squad show coming up next. So to get it done, somebody has got to do something, right? Who is that someone or somebody’s? We’ll talk about it on the Raider Squad Show. Let’s get it. Raider Nation, it’s time. This is the Raiders Squad. Everything Las Vegas Raiders every week, covering all the big hits and gamechanging plays from the Death Star in the desert the way only the Locked on Podcast Network can. Commitment to excellence starts here. The Raiders Squad Show starts now. Hey, what’s up, Raider Nation? Remember, if you like the content and you’re watching this on YouTube, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. If you’re listening to this on the audio side, we do appreciate you. Remember, you can also leave a rate and review, give us a five star. And I always say this because Hugh and Link are on the show, so why wouldn’t you not give us a five star. Also, just a heads up, the Locked Onet is the number one sports podcasting network. So, we do appreciate you. We also do appreciate you making Locked on Raiders or the Squad Show your first listen of the day. You continue to support the show despite the fact of the Raiders being, you know, two and 10. You show up every week and support the show. And we do appreciate you because not only does that help the channel grow, but it helps the show grow. And without you, Raider Nation, none of this is possible. So, thank you so much for rocking out with us. Before we get into everything, I do want to quickly mention our sponsors for for today. Today’s episode is brought to you and sponsored by Prize Picks. Download the Prize Pix app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. And lots to get into in that final segment as we normally do. Q and Link are going to be answering some of your questions, taking some of your comments. So, if you’re watching this on YouTube, make sure to drop them in the chat. If you’re watching this later or listening to it, you can always drop some comments. And uh by the way, you can always also hit us up on social media. You’ll see in the description below also if you’re watching on YouTube the screen the way that you can connect with us. But lot to get into. We’re going to do our do something segment because someone needs to do something guys, especially when it comes to the Raiders. And there’s a big list, but we’re going to get into that. We’re also going to be breaking down obviously the Raiders and Broncos. They the Raiders fell to the Broncos 10-7 last time Thursday Night Football. That was in October. And uh yeah, that was not the best game, but it was a close game. We’re going to break it all down and see if you know, maybe the Raiders can get some keys to victory to win this one. Before we do all of that though, we got to get into some news and of course injury updates. But I think the biggest news, and we have to talk about this, was the fact that the Steelers and Mike Tomlin might part ways. And this is huge news because we know the cache that Mike Tomlin brings. And I would say it’s different from Pete Carol to be honest with you. I think it’s a total different vibe. I think they’re total different coaches. But my question to both of you is if Mike Tomlin is available, if you’re Mark Davis and say Pete Carol is out of the picture, we don’t know if he will be though. That’s the big thing. But let’s just, you know, let’s just play devil’s advocate here. So let’s say Pete Carol is gone. Would you go and would you chase Mike Tomlin? We’ll go with you first, Link. Well, here’s the thing. Uh, first of all, you can’t put the the carriage in front of the horse. So, you have to see if Pete Carol is not going to be here and if you’re going to fire him, which I am against. I’m tired of firing coaches. Uh, if you keep letting coaches go, new coaches are going to come in with their same uh with their output and and change this team around. And we have not had any consistency. So, the last thing I want to do is is do it again in spite of the results that we see right now. So, with that being said, it’s that’s that’s part one. Part two. I believe Tomlin was a special teams coach back in his day, right Q? I want to say special teams and uh what DB’s coach was I’m trying to remember. I I’m just most notably know him as a special teams coach or having history with special teams and horrible in Tampa Tampa Bay, right? Yeah, exactly. That’s what that’s what I was thinking of. I was trying to go back that far. Um there’s no doubt in my mind that that Tomlin and the Steelers, they built a good program, Super Bowl winning program. They’ve had their their share of success. Most notably, they’ve been in the playoffs. I think every year that Tomlin’s coaching. Uh, so that’s that’s something in itself. Even though you don’t go far, you still find a way to make it to the playoffs. With that being said, I’ve heard the rumors about the Steelers ready to to part ways and do something with them. And that’s not an organization that normally makes quick changes. So, this is something that’s been if it’s going to happen, it’s been a long time in work. The long the short end of your story is I would like to have somebody talented like that on this coaching staff. However, we already are in a place where we don’t know who’s calling the shots, right? The last person you want to do is bring in another what seems to be an alpha male and put him on your staff. Got to tread very lightly with those conditions. What do you think, Q? Yeah, I mean that’s you hit it on the head and and honestly my gut feeling and this is only my gut feeling that they’re going to try to do everything in their power to make sure Pete Carol is the coach of 2026. That’s that’s just the sense that I get. But again, I mean, anything could change, especially in the last handful of games as the season goes. If it goes off the rails, then I think there’s no question that Pete won’t be back. Um, yeah, I think Mike Tomlin in in theory as a head coach of the Raiders would be awesome, right? Just because of what he brings to the table and we know that he’s going to bring that winning pedigree and what is not working in Pittsburgh right now where he hasn’t had winning or losing season, right? That’s a cool storyline u for Pittsburgh. They’re like, “Okay, that’s great. Well, we’re over that. Let’s move on and get get, you know, do better.” Well, the Raiders would love to be able to boast that, right? The Raiders would love to be able to say, “Hey, man. Haven’t had a losing season. Last three seasons, boom, 500 or better, right?” And obviously with 17 games, you can’t be exactly 500, but that would be great for the Raiders right now because they haven’t had that in a very long time consistently, a winning team. So, that would be great just what he brings to the table. But I think Lincoln hit it on the head before any move could be made. Regardless if it’s Mike Tomlin, what whatever head coach you want, uh there has to be the order of operations and it has to be understood who’s calling the shots, who reports to who, who’s hiring who. That’s how the Raiders got in the position they’re in this year, right? Because they were all, again, they were it’s like they were picking up a a hoop game, right, at the YMCA. And it’s like Lincoln said, “Hey, I got Pete.” And I said, “Hey, I got Chip.” And then Lincoln said, “All right, I got uh, you know, Robbie Leonard. All right, I got Patrick Graham.” Right? I mean, that that it doesn’t work. I got Smith. Right? I mean, you just it can’t work like that. You can’t you can’t go pick up a hoop team, a five on five at the Y. You just can’t do that. You’ve got to be able to be on the same page. So, they’ve got to get their their order in in business and and in line at first before anything could happen, even including keeping Pete Carol next year if they don’t want to have the same results that they had this year. In terms of Pete Carol still being the coach of the Raiders, how much does he have to prove with the final remaining games that there has been some improvement because they’ve, you know, made changes. They fired Tom McMahon. Special teams was was not doing well this year, which has you normally been the Raiders strong suit. So, they let go of Tom McMahon, right? And then they let go of Chip Kelly. So, now he’s not going to have the blame on him, but there’s still that lingering Brennan Carol like the O line and how much it struggled. How much improvement does this team have to show in the next final games for Pete to actually stay? Because I I think that has to do with a little bit about him remaining the coach for next year. Right. Right. Q. Yeah. I mean, look, this is the thing. I I think that they’re going to have to have conversations when the season’s all said and done, right? I mean, the season the last five games, they just can’t get embarrassed. They can’t get blown out. They can’t look like a team that’s unprepared, you know, stuff like that. Look, they have who they have. They’re going to be who they be. Even with Greg Olsen as the play caller, it’s not all of a sudden going to turn into some high-flying offensive attack and all a sudden say, “Man, this is where they should have been the whole time.” But they’ve got to show that they can be competitive. They’ve got to show that he still has the locker room. He still has the ear of the players and they’re still out there fighting, scratching, clawing, and competing and trying to win each and every game regardless. And looking at their schedule, there’s a chance that they don’t win another game, right? Just being um just brutally honest. I mean, there’s a chance that they end up two and 15 when it’s all said and done, end up with a top two, top three pick, whatever. That’s that’s for another conversation. But it has to look like, okay, there you can see that this guy has a plan and he can lead this team. If it starts to really get off the rails and it looks like the players don’t, you know, are like no-shows in these games, then it’s going to have to then then it’s it’s going to be a no doubt that RIP’s going to be gone in 2026. In recent history, what we’ve seen is that the locker room turned against Josh McDaniels when he was there. It’s one reason why he got exited out. Mhm. AP didn’t do enough to keep his job. Now you bring in a program builder like Pete Carol and of course this season has been a disaster. Much to your qu to answer your question, Shantel, I don’t know what really has to happen other than if the locker room totally turns on coach Carol, right? And and I don’t see that happening. And it hasn’t. I promise you it hasn’t. I could tell you it hasn’t just for being in the locker room. Yeah. And see and and I I I I sense that. And so if you’re And I’m just going to say this. If you’re Mark Davis and you want a guy who’s built a program before, you have to give him another shot. I I I still there are many things that happened this season that are inexcusable to me, guys. When you sit there and say that we like our offensive line and you see what we’re dealing with, you know, you made those coaches made those decisions and not to play your draft choices early in the season. That is another decision that I think falls on the head coach. But with all those all that thing being said, I I just don’t know if firing and hiring another coach is going to do you any good, right? Because you you’re right back where you start and then what happens if that if the players turn against that coach and this is already a young and and uh and somewhat emotional team in many respects without that veteran presence to stand up and say and say that we deserve to be here and you don’t because we got a lot of veterans who are on proving contracts. It’s just not a good mix to say that we’re going to start all over. I see the fans, the the comments from the Raider Nation. I understand the frustration. I just don’t know. See, making another head coaching change or a general manager change is the answer to our problems. Yeah, I’m with you. I’m with you 100%. And again, that’s decisions that they have to make at the end of the season. And you know, Charles Davis, who was on the call for the the Raiders and Chargers uh on Sunday, he he uh was on my radio show this past week, and he brought up a good point. He’s like, “Qu, the offensive line is not good.” You’re absolutely right and everyone wants to fire Brennan Carol, but you tell me, you know, who’s coaching up that offensive line to be at a high level, playing at a high level when you have backups, backups, backups are playing. I mean, you know, it’s not it’s not even just backups are playing, but backups backups. I mean, you got Alex Kappa now at the center position, right? And he actually didn’t do a bad job, but I mean, he’s he’s what, the third different off center this season, right? You’ve got multiple guys now at the right guard spot, right? you’ve had, you know, a backup is playing a left tackle spot for the majority of the season. I mean, there’s so many different moving parts. The big problem is Brennan’s last name is Carol. So there it might come to a season come to a point when the season’s over that they say, “Hey, Pete, we want to bring you back. We want to give you another shot.” And again, this is just me spitballing. I don’t know. Uh there’s no inside information here whatsoever. Want to make that clear. Uh, but they might come to a conversation like, “We want to bring you back, but yeah, the offensive line coach, you’re going to have to go ahead and make the tough decision to move on from him.” And he might say, “Okay, I’m willing to do that.” And he might say, “Ah, it’s my son. I’m not going to do it.” Right? Cuz I, and I’ll tell you first and foremost, and I don’t think anyone listening to this show, uh, you know, if they’re being truthful, would do anything different. If if it came down to me and my or my son, if I had to fire my son to to keep my job, guess what? I’m just going to be unemployed. I I’m just I’ll be 100% honest. If I got to fire my son, I’m I’m gonna I’m just gonna fire myself at the same time. And and that’s that’s the big question because that’s the question I’ve asked all this season. Does Pete Carol have it to fire his son? Right. I mean, if if if we’re in a performance based business and we’re looking at what he’s dealing with and what we have, the mistakes can be called from, you know, the offensive play caller, that could be that could definitely generate mistakes. But at the same point, it’s not been good blocking assignments that have been coached into these guys that are playing out there right now. And that’s just I’m not a fire guy. I’ve never been a fire guy, you know, unless a guy just totally out there and I don’t know what the hell he’s doing. I don’t call for people firing. But I also know this being a businessman. I don’t hire family members. Bingo. Bingo. That’s it right there, brother. I’m just calling in like I see it, brothers. Yep. Yep. That’s how it usually turns out. Pretty bad. I will say this, though. I agree with keeping Pete for another year if you really are trying to build this program. He’s been successful everywhere he’s gone, but I don’t think he’s gotten this season to really have his staff under him. So maybe let’s give Pete that chance. I will say though in terms of him possibly not firing his son. I think that’s the knock on Pete though because it’s like he rides so hard for his guys where it’s a detriment to the team in terms of Gino Smith riding with Gino Smith when he’s clearly injured in that Denver Broncos game limping and deciding not to go with Kenny Picket because at that point during that game I think it was worse for Gino to stay in the game because he was hurting the team when you’re that hurt and you’re trying and don’t get me wrong I give him props for really trying to grind through it but you’re kind of hurting your team when you’re that hurt and Pete still didn’t go with Gino. And I think the big thing and the conversation with Raider Nation is usually like, well, why is he still standing up for Gino? Because, you know, that’s his quarterback but going that hard for him, not making the switch. And then Brennan Carol still being the O line coach, him still being there, you know, after Chip Kelly. And personally, I thought he might go first before Chip, that wasn’t the case. So, I think there’s those two issues, but if Pete doesn’t want to fire his son, he’s not going to fire his son. and Charles Davis made a great point. It’s like who’s really going to coach this line to be one of the best lines in the NFL if you think about it when Alex Kappa is at the, you know, center position. So, all those factors come into play. So, you know, we’ll just see how it pans out near the end of the season. And hopefully there will be some improvement. And, uh, we have to obviously get to, you know, the injury updates for this game against the Denver Broncos. And actually, the the Raiders got quite quite a few names on there, guys. Jamal Adams dealing with the knee. He practiced in full though. Um, Max Crosby dealing with the knee, he was limited. Michael Mayer ankle issue, he did not participate. So, we might not see Michael Mayer in this one, but of course, we’ll continue to find out throughout the week. Also, Dylan Parmum, his back did not participate. Will Putnham, his shoulder practiced in full. Gino Smith dealing with a foot injury limited. And Dante Thornton dealing with a a concussion. So, he did not participate. As for the Denver Broncos, tight end Nate Atkins dealing with the knee, did not participate, and defensive tackle DJ Jones dealing with an ankle injury, did not participate. The the two names that kind of pop up to me for the Raiders, well, three is Michael Mayer dealing with that um ankle injury. Gino Smith as well was limited and Dante Thornton a concussion. That means he could be out for quite some time. for the we keep on talking about how the rookies need to be on the field. You know, just your thoughts, link on if Dante Thorne isn’t able to go on Sunday. Well, you can’t go, you can’t go and you can’t make the club in the tub. So, you got to find a way to get healthy. Concussions are very, very tricky. Um, sometimes the guys want to do their best and sometimes doctors have to trump them. You know what? It’s just not good for you. And then that’s that’s just a sign of the times of day we live in. It’s much different than back when I played. But I’ve always been, you can’t make the club in the tub and if you can’t go, you can’t go. Guys need to decide if they’re hurt or they’re injured. If you’re injured, you can’t play. If you’re hurt, you’re gonna have to pay play through the plane. But we’ve got some some interesting names on that injury report going into this Bronco game, especially at the offensive line spot where you need all hands on deck because this this forsome knows how to get after people and the Denver Broncos for them. They know how to rush the damn quarterback. They know how to blitz and they got a lot of speed in the back end in that secondary which is going to make it hard to get the ball off. So, there are a lot of things that are really challenging for this offense, the Raiders offense coming forward in this game this weekend. And it just not doesn’t help the fact that they’ve got some key guys that are injured. Yeah. Gino with the bad wheel, not that he uses them too often anyway, but Gino with the bad wheel against that Denver defense is never a good recipe, right? I mean, they sacked him six times last time they played, right? And and and we saw how how banged up and battered he’s been the last handful of games. I mean, he’s just been taking hit after hit after hit. Now all of a sudden going in compromise is not going to uh bode well for for Gino. So he’s gonna have to figure things out and if he’s able to go he’s able to go. If he’s not then, you know, then somebody will get their Kenny Picket time or they’ll get their Aiden Oonnell time. Obviously has TBD. We’ll find out. Uh injury report comes out later today that gets one tomorrow as well. And then we’ll find out 90 minutes before kickoff who’s going to be inactive. I remember Dante Thornton Jr. getting hit pretty hard in that game on Sunday versus the Chargers. And I I I can’t remember if they went immediately to to break or whatever on the broadcast because I thought, man, that’s one of those those hospital balls. Like that was a a hit that you’re like, man, I hope he’s okay. And I don’t remember even seeing him getting up and and walking off the field or whatever. But uh when I saw him pop up on the injury report with a concussion, wasn’t surprised at all. And so, of course, you can’t do anything with that except for try to pass the concussion protocol. Michael Mayer, man, I I just I continue to feel bad for this young man. I mean, I really do. his whole career so far, it just seems like, yeah, but, right, or or or just one step forward and two back. Like, every single time you think Michael Mayer is going to have an opportunity uh to show what he could do at the tight end position, to show who he was at Notre Dame coming out of college as a, you know, big- time tight end prospect, it just hasn’t seemed to pop for him, right? Rookie year didn’t get used very much by Josh Daniels and company. Second year, stepped away from the team for a little while. Had some personal issues going on. Comes back, he’s pretty excited. Banged up. banged up. Banged up. Right. So, I mean, he’s missed games this season with concussion, missed games this season because of injury, and you know, now he’s the ankle. Last week, Pete Carol said he could barely walk. I asked Pete Carol yesterday, do you anticipate him practicing? I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. And then, obviously, Shantel, like you mentioned, he didn’t participate on yesterday. So, would not be shocked at all uh if we see or don’t see Big Mike coming up on Sunday versus the Broncos. And it really is a shame. I mean, he’s overshadowed by the legendary Bark Bowers. There’s no doubt about that. there’s only one football. So there there’s only so many times that you can, you know, get him the ball and get him complete. And especially when you talk about the limited amount of offense this se this team has had this season, plays and games, it’s really really difficult to see what the future looks for Michael Mayer. Yeah. And I really thought it would be a breakout season for Michael Mayer, but when you have all of those injuries, it’s a little bit tough. But and then you got Brock Bowers as well. But when we when we talk about, you know, 12 personnel, 13th personnel, I was like Michael Mayer might fall out this year. So hopefully we’ll be able to see him on the field and Dante Thornton Jr. because we know how badly he wants to win and when he’s dropping those balls or he’s being targeted and you know we want to see the rookies obviously do well and we want to see them get a lot of burn as well. So we’ll be keeping our eye on both of those stories coming up on the other side. We’re going to be breaking down the Raiders and Broncos. Q said it. The Broncos had six sacks in that game. So, will this defense once again have a successful night against the Raiders or will it be another close divisional battle? We’ll get into that on the other side. Keep it locked here on the Lockdown Network. You’re listening or watching the Raider Squad Show. This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on Price Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both, there’s no better time to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. Just pick more or less on at least two player stats, and if you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup, and you can play anywhere. Price Picks operates. That includes California, Texas, and Georgia. The great thing about Price Picks that I love is the fact that there’s a bunch of promos every week. So, coming up tomorrow, there’s going to be a flex Friday where it’s like a 40% payout boost, which is a great time to bet. So, definitely take advantage of that. Download the Price Fix app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup. Price picks. It’s good to be right. Welcome back, Raider Nation. Remember, if you like the content, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. You can also follow us on our social media channels. You’ll see in the description below the ways that you can connect with us. And obviously, coming up in the final segment, Q and Link are going to be taking some of your questions and comments. I’ve already highlighted a couple of them if you’re watching on YouTube that I’ll be asking. So, make sure to get those questions and comments in. Also, if you’re listening to this, you can always do that at a later date and we might be able to get to it on another episode. So, Raiders, Broncos. This one was kind of a snoozefest. It was a defensive battle and to be quite honest, I think this one will be another defensive battle. I think the Raiders defense is going to come out strong in this one. Try to make it hard for Bon Knicks, who doesn’t always have the best start. He has like great fourth quarters, but not always the best start in the first and second. Just in terms of what the Raiders have to do, keys to victory. Let’s get right into it. We’ll go with you first, Link. Keys to victory for the Raiders getting this win against the Broncos. Well, first of all, I want to back up because we did talk about um the fact that Bo Knicks was going to have a little bit of a slump. I predicted that coming into this season and I’m seeing that now. He’s whether they’re able to go deep in the playoffs with that that team because he has struggled and people are starting to figure out how to defend against him. Shawn Peyton has been ultra creative with finding ways to get the ball out of his hands. But with that going forward and just talking about the time being, it’s coming down to turnovers. Our defense has played aggressive before. They’ve gotten turnovers, but they need to have more turnovers because you have to shorten the field. This offense struggles at time to put drives together. Yes, we did see two long drives against the Chargers last week that resulted in touchdowns, but overall through the season, we can’t sit there and say, “Well, we can rest assured our offense is going to be able to move the ball.” They had time to score. They had time to take over this game the last time they played the Broncos. So, it’s anyone’s guess. Let’s see how they come. We want to start fast, obviously get more touchdowns and field goals, but I think the keys to it definitely gonna be winning the turnover battle. What do you think, Q? Yeah, you know, the thing about it is I just think that this Raiders offense has to complement what the defense does. And Chantel, I think you hit it on the head. You know, it was a defensive battle the first time. Problem is the offense didn’t do anything, right? The offense didn’t do anything when the Raiders defense gives them chances. And that’s against Denver, that’s against the Chargers, that’s against every team for the most part outside a couple that they just got blown out from the jump. But the defense has done fine early. The problem is they can’t sustain it throughout the course of the game because they’re not getting any time to rest. They’re not, you know, they’re they’re on the field, but the Chargers had the ball, I think what, 35 minutes on Sunday. Like that that’s not going to work. So, they get the ball back. They’ll create a turnover. I mean, Caillou Blue Kelly comes up with a huge interception to take, you know, points off the board, keep points off the board, uh, you know, for the Chargers. And the Raiders can’t do anything with it, right? They stop him in the red zone uh going in again, you know, on fourth down, get the ball back. The Raiders can’t do anything with it. The Raiders had two good drives on Sunday. They have to be able to complement the the defense. If the defense gives you an opportunity, which they’re doing, and if AJ Cole gives you an opportunity when he’s flipping the field, the way that we all know AJ Cole can do, you’ve got to be able to get the ball back, which the defense has done, and the offense has to do something with it, right? I mean, that’s one of the segments that we’re going to be talking about. Do something. I’ll tell you right now who’s got to do something. That damn Raiders offense. Right? When the defense gives you a chance, do something with it, right? Don’t just don’t just, you know, look at it, play with it, and think, “Oh, this is cool.” No, man. Go make it make something happen. Score some points, put something up on the board. That’s what they’re not doing. That’s the biggest problem. And that’s that’s that’s where they keep missing all these opportunities. And unfortunately, this Raiders team is not good enough where they could miss one opportunity here or an opportunity there and still, you know, still be okay. They’re not right. Me and Link will be at Allegiant and we’ll see. Okay, here here’s a nice drive. Oh, they scored three points. Here’s a nice drive. They scored three points. Defense did well. And we could look at each other and say, “All right, you’re setting up a loss right now because you haven’t taken advantage of all the times that the defense gives you an opportunity.” Yeah. And that’s the thing. I think in terms of the offense having to do something, I think there’s going to be some key guys that have to step up. So, we’ll still do the do something segment. Don’t worry, Raider Nation. But, you know, this is a game that’s important for the Broncos because they could for the first time in a very long time be the division winners. They’re not going to come and take the later the Raiders lightly in this one. They want to win. They want to end off the season on a good note. And with that, I think the Raiders should be a little bit motivated because they can play a little bit of spoiler, maybe ruin their chances of winning that division. So, for the Raiders offense, Q, you said they need to do something. What about that offensive line? And we’re going to go to Professor Kennedy for this one. Alex Kappa didn’t look absolutely terrible. Played all right. Yes. Yes. Played all right in last game as center. Didn’t look too bad. No. Gave him with a favorable grade, but again, I don’t I don’t believe in moral victory. So, if you lose a game, you you don’t you don’t get a you don’t get a positive grade with me. But with with that being said, look, you know, you bring up a good point and and yes, they did play him last time. They played him tough and the Raiders could be spoilers. But back to Q’s point, and this is what I’m most ashamed to say is that I don’t know if the offense has the ability to do that because we haven’t seen it consistently. Yep. You know, you’re gonna have to in this game, Greg Olsen and this offensive staff is going to have to do with max protection. They’re going to have to keep six, seven people in at a time to help protect the quarterback and then you’re going to have the those guys kind of leak out. Well, what you’ve seen until you’re able to really test and throw the ball downfield, what you’ve seen is defenses have played a lot closer to the line of scrimmage when they’re playing the Raiders, taking away the short stuff and and a lot of the intermediate stuff, and there’s really no way for you to stretch the field because you don’t believe you have the the protection in order to get your receivers downfield long enough to to stretch it, and you’re not just throwing up Hail Marys or 50-50 balls. Okay, so I said all that to say this. Where are we? I think this offense can try and establish the run. It’s hard. It has to establish the run. It has to find a way to get outside because running between the tackles hasn’t been favorable. So, they got to find a way to get outside. So, I’m looking for a lot of misdirection, a lot of play action off of that mix misdirection, off of some naked boots and stuff like that. But, I’m also looking for you trying to do some sweeps and and some counter tray plays to get to throw off these linebackers because their eyes are always in the backfield for the Broncos. That’s just how they play the aggressiveness as well as their strong safety. More importantly, Gino Smith has got to have the wherewithal to check out a bad place. If you come up there and eight man in the box, nine men in the box, you better go to something else. I don’t care if you take a 50-50 ball right there. Don’t take a loss. If you end up with a handoff and a tackle for loss in the back field, ah, we are up bit creek because we can’t come back from that. So, those are just little tidbits that that go into game planning. When you talk about the ineability of this offense and more importantly that they’re trying to find a rhythm that can sustain and as much Q said complement your defense, I tell you what, the run game has to be there. To beat the Denver Broncos, you have to be able to run the ball. They can be had, right? It’s not a good recipe to have Gino drop back 35 times, 30 times, 40 times. That’s a terrible recipe. We saw that play out. And remember, this was the Thursday night game. The first time that they played, Ashton was starting to get in his bag early. He had that big run that got called back on a Jack Besh holding penalty that was way away from the play. Had nothing to do with the play. And that was like the last big play, big moment that Ashton had in that game on the ground. He can have a game. I really truly believe I still believe if if that had not been called, I think Ashton’s on his way to a big time performance on that Thursday night. I just thought that that was how that game was trending. You saw it’s almost like I don’t know why it’s always Denver that this happens with, but you remember when when uh what’s his name? Uh the quarterback Menchu when he threw that interception to Patan, he took it back a 100 yards and it was like that’s what turned that game on its head when the Raiders looked like they’re about to go up 17 nothing. Not only did it turn the game on on its head, it seemed like it turned the Raiders season, you know, and it had a direct uh you know, downfall right there. I feel like that that holding penalty and and that 30 yard run or 30 plus yard run that Genty had that got called back really just kind of defined what that game was going to ultimately end up being and then you never saw Ashton really get off after that. Uh you know he wasn’t had that ability and and then they’re trying to throw the ball around the yard and try to play catchup. It just it seems like they got out of sorts after that holding penalty. So they’ve got to play clean ball but to beat the Broncos you have to establish the run. This could be a day for Ash Genty and and I think in that game out of nowhere a lot of us felt like they abandoned the run and they did that a few times after that Broncos game they kept on Ashen would you know have some success they would abandon the run. I don’t think Greg Olsen’s obviously going to do that because he likes to run the ball and you guys have both said they have to run the ball in this one. So I agree. I think Ashton might have himself a day. In terms of Gino Smith, we talk about this O line and here’s the question. Everyone kind of has a a different answer to this one. How many seconds does Gino need behind that O line? Like at least three seconds, right? At least three seconds. You have to get the ball out early. But what would you say, Link? Yeah, at least three Mississippi. And and but at the same point, there have been times in the past where Gino has had that. Yeah, exactly. Four Mississippi, five Mississippi hasn’t thrown the ball. I I’ve always believed, especially in this current generation, that there are rules that are within the game to help protect quarterbacks. There’s obviously a strike zone, and it’s above the waist and below the shoulder pads. You can’t hit them too high because they’re only call legal contact if you go to the head or too low. So, with that being said, a quarterback slide is probably its most powerful move if you think about it. Scrambling out and sliding is probably his most powerful move other than throwing a football. So to answer your question, Shantel, at least three Mississippi, sometimes four. But within that, Gino’s got to get rid of the football. I wish I wish I was more I I knew more about his pre-nap rituals, what he goes through, what he looks at. I wish that I could tell more. and even in the short time that I’ve had to study him because I didn’t follow him when he was with other teams really other than seeing his success after the fact. But I wish I knew about his his sort of progression going through pre- snap reads, what he’s looking at and then what he what he kind of scans and and tries to divulge because I’ve always thought the quarterbacks especially in this game today get a lot from pre- snap reads. I see like you watch Pat Holmes, oh they’re playing cover two, I know where I’m going to go with the football. Oh, they’re playing cover three. I know where I’m going with the football. It’s man, I know what I can do. before you snap the ball, before you take that snap, then that that quickens up your response to get rid of the football. There are times where I see Gino Smith hold on to the football, eyeballing a particular receiver, waiting for him to come over, come open, and then the pocket collapses and then then there’s a sack or he’s in duress and can’t get rid of the football. Can’t do that. And and and so that you know, to answer your question, at least three Mississippi, if not four, but in line, you got to get rid of the damn football. Yeah. He’s got to have in his head when he’s going to get that thing out of there, right? again, three, four, if you’re holding on to it longer than four, you’re you’re you’re toast, right? I mean, it’s just as simple, right? And then on top of that, then you know he’s going to lean back on that back foot and he’s going to fire away. And I mean, it’s it’s it’s so it’s so obvious, you know, whereas it’s again staring down the receiver and it’s it’s one of those it’s a telegraph, right? And so you wonder why guys are jumping routes. Well, that’s why because they can anticipate as soon as they see him start to rock back. All right, you know what’s coming. It’s going to be a fast ball to and insert Brock Bowers or insert Jack Bash or you know what I mean? like you you know Trey Tucker, but you could just see it. It doesn’t it never looks like it’s I don’t want to say deceptive, but it does it never looks like it’s smooth. It always looks like it it almost looks like when you’re when you’re watching a a a a game of like college players or whatever and and they’re just still trying to learn how to play the position and all a sudden they see their guy open, they’re like, “Oh, he’s open. Let me fire it to him.” You know what I mean? Like I don’t think I’m describing it right, but it just seems like it’s so rushed and it’s never really smooth. It it just doesn’t seem like it’s it’s it’s cohesive on what it’s supposed to be. It just it almost looks like, all right, who’s open? Who’s open? Who’s open? Instead of anticipating or throwing a guy open, it’s like, okay, I’m waiting to throw it when he gets open and then I got to I got to fire a fast ball at him. And a lot of times it just doesn’t either not completed, intercepted, or it’s, you know, batted down all the time. And and to prove a fact a little bit more, there are times where, you know, as a quarterback, if you’re you see man defense and even if you have safeties high, you have to let the routes to develop because if you’re having man beater routes, they have to develop. You need time to do that. That’s going to take at least three Mississippi, four Mississippi, that type of thing. Um, but even if guys are playing zone, and this is where I say that sacks aren’t always on the offensive line, they’re not always on the quarterback. Sometimes the receivers’s got to know how to get open in the zone, where to find a the soft spot and the quarterback has to trust that progression. I think that’s one reason why they went out and got a Tyler Lockett like that from Seattle because he has that chemistry with Gino and they feel that they know each other and you could try to harp on that, but that really hasn’t proved to be big pay big dividends for what we’ve seen. So, I mean, they’re reaching and and as far as playing a lot of these younger players, they’re going to have to get used to Gino in a game speed situation knowing that they might have to cut down their routes or rather get open sooner or do something different to make themselves available sooner because, you know, the offensive line can’t hold up. So, it’s a real big combined team effort when it comes to this offense. It’s not just on the quarterback, but when Gino does have time, he’s got to get rid of the damn football. It’s just It also feels like he’s thinking too much, right? I mean, because again, there’s so many times where you’ll see immediately, all right, boom, Ashton’s open in the flat. Go ahead and get it to them, right? I mean, you could soften up that pass rush by getting that ball out really quickly and them knowing, okay, they’re going to do that, and then maybe they try to take away that check down to to to Ashton and then maybe your receiver does break open, right? I mean, there’s there’s so many different chess moves that they could be making. It just seems like Gino’s it seems like it’s always one tick behind, right? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in that press box at Allegiant and whoever’s sitting next to me, I always just sit like I’m sitting there, I’m like, “Get rid of it. Get rid of it.” And then they’ll get rid of it to who I’m thinking that he’s supposed to go to, but it’s a second after I’ve already said that. I just feel like that one second. Lincoln, you know how the timing of the game is, man. You’re one second behind, right? You’re thinking, you slows you down. It just seems like it’s one tick, two ticks behind with everything that they do. When they have a successful drive, I always think at the end of that drive, man, that looked like that took a lot of work. That looked like that was really hard to get that right. Some offenses you see them roll out there and they look all smooth and look like, “Hey, this is easy.” And nothing’s easy in the National Football League, but they’re all on the same page. They’re one cohesive unit. It seems like even when the Raiders have a touchdown drive, it is so hard to get there. Yeah. And you make a great point, Q. So, when you’re watching Gino play or watching that offense play, you’re like, “Get rid of the ball.” What I I’m actually doing from my couch is I’m counting the Mississippi. I’m seeing how long he has to throw. every time I hit three Mississippi, I’m like, “Get rid of it.” Or I’m just like, “Ashton’s open.” Or, you know, I’m like, and you can see this on the field, like he he’s not making all of his reads. He’s not going through all of his progressions. And I understand what you meant by he just sees who’s open and like throws throws to whoever he thinks is open. It’s like a rush, right? It’s it’s like it’s almost like a rush. Like, “Hey, Link is open. Hey, hey, Link, catch.” You know what I mean? It’s just It doesn’t seem smooth. Like, I don’t know. No, let’s be fair. The man has been hit countless times this season. He leads the league in interceptions. I can only imagine what’s going on with him in his mind. But what I’ve come to learn and respect about Gino is that Gino’s not going to sit his ass down. No, he’s going to play until someone tells him you can’t go out there and play anymore. He’s going to go out there and play and he’s going to do he’s going to do the job. I know he’s not trying to throw to the other team, but I can only imagine the amount of duress that he’s been under. the constant, you know, focal point of all the media and everyone, the nation and everything else leading the league in interceptions. I don’t necessarily say feel bad for him in a sense like that, but I can only imagine what’s going through his mind every time he suits up and goes back out on that football field because I’ve seen times where he’s looked at the the protection and not look downfield. I’ve also seen time where he’s been fixated and locked on this is where I’m going to go because I know I don’t have this much time and to to a fault to where other teams have played for that rather than going through his progression. And that’s why I go back to pre-nap reads. Where are you in pre- snap reads? What do you see? If I could be in his head, hey, tell me what you see. What are you looking at? And you see this look. So, where do you think about going for the football? That helps speed up your internal mechanism when it comes to playing just like I did when I got down in the stance. First thing I would do is look at the hand of the guy I’m going to block. Look at his stance. Oh, is this a is this a sprinter stance? Is this a a tough two gap stance where he’s going to try to stand me up? Look at that. Look at his hands. How much weight he has on his hands to get a gain? what type of move I think he’s gonna do. Pre- snap reads, everyone uses them. I just don’t know what goes are. Yeah. And you know, that’s a great point about Gino is like he’s never gonna give up until somebody tells him that he can’t be on the field. He’s taken a lot of hits. My question to both of you is how much do you think those hits have impacted his accuracy? Because he’s trying to get the ball out quicker. I think he panics a little bit at times in when that pocket is collapsing. One thing that we’ve always heard is how accurate Gino is, but he hasn’t been accurate. We’ve seen a lot of overthrown balls with guys that, you know, are wide open. Q, do you think it’s affected his accuracy? For sure. I think that he’s, again, I think he sees a guy that’s open, and Trey Tucker seems like he’s been that guy a few times, even starting I want to say that Browns game. Uh, you know, he had Trey Tucker wide open, looked like it could have been a huge play, potentially even a touchdown. He just overthrows him. I think he just he sees some some daylight, he sees an open receiver, and then he sees somewhat of a clean pocket. He’s like, “This ain’t going to last long.” And and kind of rushes it. Again, it’s just it’s not trusting his his play. I mean, again, it’s too much thinking. Thinking will make you do weird things, right? Thinking will make your game slow down. It will make you not play at the level that you want to play at, right? If you go out there and just play, right? I mean, Lincoln didn’t stand on the offensive line, get in his stance, and then have to do a whole bunch of thinking about, okay, well, this, that, the other. Lincoln’s like, all right, I know exactly what I’m doing. And trusted his his his play and his his his instincts, and okay, this is what I’m going to go do. And you know, if you sit there and thought about it, that that edge rusher is going to get past him too quickly, right? I mean, again, I say it all the time, a thinking man is a slow man. It’s reality. And it just seems like that there’s a lot of thinking and overthinking going on with this Raiders offense. It’s not just Gino. Let’s get it to, you know, straight. It’s not just Gino, but there’s a lot of thinking going on there. And I feel like that’s why you see guys slowing down as opposed to just going out there and playing free. I’ve noticed it most in the Cleveland game where Gino was throwing to a point, not necessarily throwing to an open man or to get him open, he was throwing to a point and then you could see his accuracy there. But I honestly believe that the amount of hits and the fact that the protection has broke down has played on him. It’s he’s he’s been thinking a lot more than he should and this should be a game where you just react and you just trust your instinct and and that’s why I said he’s never going to pull himself. He’s never going to stop playing until someone stops him. And more importantly, when he goes out there, he he feels the pressure of what the quarterback position garners in this in this game, it’s important. You got to do your job. You got to do your job at the highest of your ability. More times than not, you got to be better than the other quarterback on the other side of football. You don’t have any control over what he does, but at the same point, you have control over what what you do. And Tim Brown hit the nail on the head earlier this year when I was talking to him at the torch. He’s got to throw it to the guys in our jerseys and not the other jerseys. Yeah, it’s that simple. Sometimes being simple is is the best way to keep things. Who’s going to be the X factor in this in this game? A guy that will maybe make a play to kind of switch the momentum or change the energy. Who would you pick to be the X-factor in this game? We’ll go with you first, Q. I’m just going to go with Genty, just cuz I think he just has to be. I mean, it’s not really that’s not really a good answer because I mean, he’s he’s not really an X-factor. He’s got to be a factor, right? I mean, he’s just it’s it’s to beat the Denver Broncos, you have to have a run game. You have to be able to establish a run. You’re not going to be able to play seven on seven and just try to throw the ball around the yard and think you’re going to beat them. They’re going to get you with their pass rush. They’re going to take the ball away. They’re going to do something uh that’s going to hurt your team. You have to be able to run the rock. The Raiders showed in that first game against Denver, they could run the ball early. You mentioned it. They got away with it. They got away from it. They they can’t do that regardless, right? And I think that’s the difference you see between Greg Olsson and Chip Kelly. I don’t think you’re going to see massive changes. You can’t. I mean, it’s it is what it is. But what you did see against the Chargers is they had a commitment to at least trying to run. Even when they had a negative run here, a negative run there, they didn’t just get discouraged and go away from it. They kept trying to feed Ashton and and they just you’re going to have to do that, especially with a guy like him who’s a volume back. He’s one of those guys that the more touches he gets, the better things are going to happen. And again, you can also feed him the rock out of the back field and you get him in space, he can make some plays happen. I just think that Ashton Genty has to have a big game if the Raiders are gonna have any chance to win this game. I’m gonna go on the defensive side and I’m gonna go Jeremy Chen has to have a big game. I think he has to have a big game at the safety spot mainly because what he’s going to be forced into a lot of coverage with tad tight ends and possibly slot receivers that Broncos want to bring out because they believe in their protection. So, they’re going to have a lot of crossing routes and more importantly in this Patrick Graham defense. Safeties are going to have to have great communication with their corners because they like to run a lot of digs, a lot of in routes and a lot of uh curls to the middle of the field. They want to have Bicks throw in the middle of the field rather than throwing the sidelines. They think he’s more accurate towards the middle of the field between the hashes. So, I I think it’s going to fall on Jeremy Chin. That’s who I got to see uh rise up and do something today. I mean, this weekend. Yeah. And coming up next, we are going to get into our do something segment. I do believe Q kind of already did his, but we’ll see if he has another one on someone that needs to do something. Okay, great. Great. There’s a bunch of guys. Plenty to go around. Plenty to go around. That Yeah, those are kind of the sentiments of the show as we near the end of the season obviously with a few more games left. But if you have a player that you feel like needs to do something, you can always drop it in the chat, leave a comment because in that final segment, Q and Link are going to be taking some of your questions and comments. So, keep it locked here on the Lockdown Network. you’re listening or watching the Raider Squad Show. Welcome back, Raider Nation. If you like that, if you like the content, remember to uh hit that like and subscribe button if you’re watching on YouTube. Also, if you’re on the audio side, give us a five star, leave a rate and review. That also helps the channel grow. Do something. There’s a lot of guys on this Raiders team that needs to do something. But who really needs to do something against the Broncos this Sunday? We’ll go with you first, Link, cuz you’re chilling and just having it. You’re just chilled out. So, you probably already have your answer. You know what I mean? You already know where I’m going to go. It’s going to go back to this offensive line. They need to do something. Look, they’re they’re going they’re going to have max protection. They’re going to keep six, seven guys in to protect other than the five offensive linemen, but they’re also going to have those guys leak out after a while. So, those chippers aren’t going to stay in the back field and help out for long. I need this offensive line to do something because I need to show that they’re worthy of running the football behind. If if the the running game is a quarterback’s best friend, you’ve got to run the football. If you’re an offensive lineman, you definitely like going forward more than you like catching guys coming into your chest or coming into your into your back field. So, you much rather go out there. And with these guys, especially these outside linebackers, defensive ends, Broncos have, I think you could push them around. I really do. I think you could push them around a little bit. Now, they’re not going I mean, they’re all playing at a high high allpro level, so they’re not going to give up a ton of space. But at the same point, you’ll feel much better as an offensive line coming forward and hitting somebody in the mouth and making a ho. Okay. All right. Back up a little bit before rather than sitting here catching these guys as they’re running full speed into you trying to make a pass move around you. So, I’m going to the offensive line. I need to see them do something. I’m going to go to the defensive line. I’m going to single out Malcolm Coons. And I feel like he’s getting healthier, right? I I feel like it’s been, you know, since he came back from that torn ACL, it’s kind of been slow treading for him and and we’ve seen him get a little bit more disruptive uh game in and game out. And, you know, this is the time of year really, unfortunately, where he took off in 2023 where he had his breakout, you know, stretch of games under Antonio Pierce. I feel like he’s gaining more confidence that he is actually healthy. So, I would like to see him be that guy opposite of Max Crosby that could help be disruptive. Uh again, look, Bo Knicks, the thing about him in this game, he’s going to get his read and he’s going to decide immediately if he’s going to his read or he’s going to run, right? I mean, they they don’t they don’t give up a whole lot of sacks when it comes to that Denver Broncos team. And a lot of it is because Bo Knicks will take out off. He’ll take off immediately and get up out of there, right? And sometimes I know the Bronco fans and I know, you know, even even people that cover the team says it gets frustrating because he doesn’t allow he’s he’s impatient. He’ll he doesn’t allow a play to develop. So, he’ll, you know, he’ll he’ll take a quick scan. it’s not there. Okay, he’s gonna take off the run. So, this is a game where there’s gonna have you’re gonna have to maintain your contain, right? So, Max and and Malcolm are gonna have to be very disciplined. Tyrie as well, you know, when he’s out there on the edge. But, I think this is a game where in Malcolm Coun’s uh ability to to be a fast edge rusher, right? I mean, he has that that move where he can get around the the corner pretty quickly. If he continues to develop his confidence that he’s back 100% healthy, he could end up being a, you know, being being a big- time player. So, I’d like to see him continue to do something. This is also why I spoke of Jeremy Chin earlier. I think in this defense in this weekend, he’s going to have to come up a lot for run support uh and to help out because the Broncos when they see that sort of NASCAR package, which is the undersized defensive end outside linebackers for the Raiders, Tyrie Wilson, Malcolm Coun as well as uh Max Crosby, they want to run the football, especially when they see Jamal Adams in there and not Devin White. If you have because Jamal Adams is built linebacker, but he’s not a true linebacker. So, I think Jeremy Chin has to come down and support the run support. That’s why he’s got to be ultra communicate communitative communicative, but more importantly, he’s got to be focused that he’s going to have to help run support as well. Um, you know, really quickly before we get into predictions, do you think we’re also on the O line going to see Caleb Rogers come in for some snaps and then get off the field? Like, they were kind of switching him on and off and I don’t know if that was the best in terms of like both of you always talk about continuity on the O line. So, I don’t even know if that was the best move for them. Q, do you think we’re going to see more of that this this weekend? Unfortunately, I think that that we are. Uh, that was something that I asked uh Pete Carol about. I just, you know, wanted to know if if he anticipated a rotation at that right guard position like he had last week, and he said, well, you know, we’ll see. We’ll find out uh based off what they do in practice. But, I feel like that that was a nice way of saying, “Yeah, right. Yeah, they’re going to continue with that rotation.” I’m not a fan of that. I rather just Caleb Rogers get in there and do his thing. I think that they kind of have an idea of who Antonio MafI is and and bringing him up from the practice squad, elevating him on Saturday night before the game. I think they kind of already know, but I think Caleb Rogers, look, he was and I’m, you know, Pro Football Focus is not the end all beall for me. It’s just kind of, you know, sometimes confirms what I already believe. He only had 17 snaps against the Chargers, but he graded out really well, right? He was probably the highest graded pro uh Raiders offensive lineman according to PFF. And again, it’s just something to, you know, kind of compare and contrast what your, you know, your own notes were. So, I think that he should get that opportunity to go out there and just see what he is, see who he can be. I really feel like this in the offseason, this team is going to need at least three offensive linemen. Can he be one? Right? I mean, the only way to know if he could be one is to put him in there, let him be in the mix. And, you know, this is no the Denver Broncos are no no chumps, man. I mean, so if he can hold up pretty well, defensive tackle, right? Exactly. I’m saying if he can hold up in that kind of uh, you know, position against a team like that, that’s got that’s a that’s a positive. That’s that’s something that you could take away from the season. Said, “This season was a fail. This season sucked.” But you know what? That young man, he’s going to be something. I have never been a fan of alternating offensive linemen if you didn’t have to. You put them in there. You let them take their lumps. You get them going. They get into a game. They’ll get into a rhythm. They’ll get into a lather. And you keep that going. You sit down on the sidelines when your team is on defense, unless you’re cheering on your defense, and you’ve got plenty of energy to do that. But I have never been a fan of switching offensive linement. I never liked it. It just takes so much of that away from that continuity. Leave him in there. Let the kid play. He’s going to take his lumps. He’s going to get his minuses. But at the same point, you get to see what you have in him when he’s out on the football field rather than sending them in for certain circumstances, certain times, certain drives. Cuz what happens if you go for one long drive and then you want to alternate your guard and you send him in and he only gets three plays? Do you send them back out? Are we are we grading like a preseason game? It doesn’t work like that in the regular season, especially when you add you get into the rhythm of the game. So, put them in there. Leave them in there. Predictions. Are the Raiders going to get it done against the Broncos? Last game was pretty close. You know, if a couple of things went differently, that game could have gone differently. So, Link, you laughed. I’ll let you think on it. Q. It feels like you’re ready. It feels like you’re ready. And I know you hate these. I know you hate these. It’s cool. I don’t I don’t mind going first. I I don’t think that the Raiders are going to win. I really don’t. I honestly don’t believe that they’re going to win another game this season. I And I hate to say it. I don’t want to be, you know, Debbie Downer. I don’t want to be Mr. negative. I’m not trying to be that guy. I just don’t see it. I just think that that that they’re not on that level. And I know those guys in the locker room talking to them even yesterday. They all want to win games. Like they have no plans of caring about where the Raiders draft next year. And I know upstairs cares about where they draft, but those guys in the locker room don’t. I would love to see them get a win for them. So they, you know, they feel like that their hard work is is rewarded. I just don’t see especially knowing how much Denver is playing for. what they have on the line, what this game means. It just it feels like this is one Denver knows that they have to have and they’re gonna find a way to get it done. I would sit in this chair if we come back Monday and say or actually I’ll be in Q’s house and we come back Monday and say Q Studios. Yeah, Q Studios. The Raiders won. I would be happy as hell if the Raiders beat the Donkeys. Oh my gosh. I would lot want to see this team go over in this division and it’s not necessarily looking that great from when you talk about the remaining games. But I would love to see the them beat the Broncos. With that being said, and as much as it pains me to say this because I know it’s not true, the Raiders are going to win 13 to seven. You know what? I’m not mad at that. Last time it was a rock fight last time. It could easily be a rock fight again. Yeah. Yeah. I I’ll say this. Um the Broncos are uh seven and a half point favorites. I’m gonna take the Raiders to cover. Yeah, I would too. No, I would too. That That’s actually a smart bet. That’s seven and a half points, you know, in your crib is is is pretty disrespectful. So, yeah, I mean, I would do that as well. I would I would take the seven and a half and I would also take an Ashton Jensen touchdown. That’s if I was creating a parlay. Those would be my two picks. I think I’m rocking. Yeah. No, I am. If I’m creating a parlay, well, we are we are today title sponsors prize picks, right? So, come on, man. I’m I’m just saying. I’m just saying. All right. So, coming up on the other side though, Q and Link are going to be answering some of your questions and comments. So, if you’re watching this on YouTube, drop them in the chat. If you’re listening to this, you can always drop them in the chat and later on we will be able to possibly read them out on Monday when uh Q and Link are going to be live from Q Studios. So, keep it locked here on the Lockdown Network. Coming up on the other side, questions and comments with Link and Q. Welcome back, Raider Nation. If you like the content, hit that like and subscribe button. And remember, we do appreciate you if you’ve already hit that like and subscribe button because you help and continue to help this channel grow even though the Raiders only have two wins on the season. So, thank you so much for rocking out with us. Let’s get to some questions and comments. Well, one of them is um from Lamar Louie 2093. Can Mr. Kennedy coach the O line in the future? We need his common sense approach. Link has his head back right now. How do you feel about that, Link? Hey, can you coach? I could, but I’m not related to any of the coaching staff, so I don’t know if it’s a little place for me. I’m sorry. I d Look, I look, we talked about this, people. I appreciate a Raider Nation. I don’t have any desire to coach. I like my life. I really do. And I I like No, I never wanted to live with my bags packed, which most coaches have to do. And I never wanted to uproot my family and and things like that. I I actually like my situation where it is with Raiders. I have no desire to coach. I do hear you. Trust me, I hear you, Raider Nation. I hear you loud and clear. And I and and it is something that’s painful for me to watch. I just don’t have a desire. So, I I wouldn’t be as good at it if my head’s not in it. That’s just being real. Yeah. You know, I just only reason I laughed and said that is because he’s been asked that so many times and I always hit him. I was like, “Hey, Link, someone wanted to ask me.” And he’s like, “No, Q. I’m not coaching.” So, between us asking all the time, Link’s like, “Oh my gosh.” That’s why I couldn’t help myself but to laugh about that one. Yo, like what if they gave you that lane kinund 100 mil uh type of money? Well, mama didn’t raise no fool. I’ll coast the yellow line if they did. I’ll coach the old line if that’s the case. I mean, if I got a if I got a $100 million contract, mama didn’t raise. I got you, man. I I’ll I’ll find a way to to put myself into it and to make myself I’ll find myself especially when it’s time to collect that check. I might have a little mask over my face, but hey man, I’ll be the guy at practice that you know when the session’s about to change. All right, it’s time for special teams. 15 minutes special teams. I’ll be that guy. Hey, I can humble myself. Look, that kind of contract. What do you need me to do? I got True story. True. It looks It looks like Link might have a staff. I’ll be I’ll just be filling up water bottles. That’s what that’s what I’ll be doing. That’s what I’ll be good for. Right. So, Link already has a staff. Just saying. Yeah. The Raiders got to give him the bag. All right. Let’s go over to uh C Weezy 3491. Yeah. Has this team improved anywhere under P? That seems like the criteria if he should come back. He also says or she love this show. Either of you can take this. Um maybe you can go first Q because Link answered the other question. Do you think the team has improved at all from Pete or do you feel like we’re going to probably see that within these next remaining games? I think you kind of need to see that over these next remaining games. I think that that’s part of the criteria to see wheezy. Shout out Weezy. Uh wheezy f baby. But yeah, I mean I think that’s part of the criteria of him coming back. And I think that that’s something that Mark Davis and the powers that be want to see, especially now that there is no there is no scapegoat, right? You can’t blame Tom McMahon. You can’t blame Chip Kelly. Now all eyes on you. And and I think that that that’s real that, you know, he’s got to show some kind of improvement. And and again, it might not result necessarily in wins, but it’s got to be the way that they play. That’s why I said earlier at the beginning of the show, if they go out and they just get blown out, they look unprepared, right? There was a couple times, and I was a big Antonio Pierce, you know, supporter. I liked AP a lot, but there were some times that you would, you know, leave that game and thought, man, that team just didn’t look like they were prepared. They didn’t look like they were ready to go. That that can’t happen. That can’t happen now that there’s no one to point the finger. I mean, the Raiders already, and I say the Raiders, there’s already been enough of the blame game going on through the media. Wild Chip Kelly this or no, Pete Carol this. All right, now all the fingers have been pointed. Now it’s show and tell time. You have to show that you can actually lead this organization and that whatever you told the powers to be when you got hired can actually work. I think they’re going to give him every opportunity to prove that, but he has to do exactly what Siy said is is that’s got to be shown by the end of the season. Again, I don’t believe in moral victories. So, to answer your question, no, they haven’t shown any improvement. Yeah, sure. It looks like they they in many ways, it looks like they’ve regressed and these are decisions that fall upon the head coach. And like I said, I know why people are asking for him to be fired or wanting to be fired. I get it. But at the same point, when do you stop the bleeding and how do you stop the bleeding? Do you you have to find some level of stability to give somebody a chance to build a team? Now, I say that tongue and cheek because I used the the the comment on earlier shows that we’ve done. You know, you had since February to put this team together and you’re still not showing what you have because you’re saying I’m doing everything I can to win and you’re getting blown out. Make that please have that make sense to me. I don’t I can’t I can’t I can’t put the pieces together for that to make sense to me. Well, and the other big issue and we spent so much time talking about the offensive line. If you go back and look at the history of Pete Carol in Seattle, I mean, it’s never a time that he’s ever had a great offensive line, right? Never had, you know, so it’s like, okay, if they go out and get some better pieces on the offensive line, are they going to use them correctly, right? Are they or or are they, again, I’ll go back to you in the scouting combine in Indianapolis when we asked them about the offensive line said, “Yeah, we kind of like what we saw last year.” And I and we all kind of paused and was like, “Huh?” You know, like, “Are you sure?” And like, I think we could work with that. Okay. Well, so that’s the one thing that I’m very concerned about is as much as we talked about the offensive line and that they need to have a big emphasis on it in the offseason. They’ve got to do wholesale changes. Will they? Cuz they necessarily didn’t have that in Seattle, they found ways to run the ball. You looked up and they still had a really good running game and and were able to, you know, make that happen, but it wasn’t because the offensive line was dominant. That’s the concerning part for me. Yeah. All right, let’s get to the final question here. This one from Lewis Dixon, Wildcat Raider. If Pete stays, don’t you think Mark should give SpyTech the official ability to make all decisions? We need a chain of command to be set. I think this goes back to not really knowing who makes the decisions. Link, do you feel like a chain of command has to be set if Pete stays? Yes, absolutely. Who’s making the decisions? Whether it’s the head coach or the general manager, whomever, the owner, someone has got to take responsibility for the decisions being made, the hires as well as the fires. And then look, this team is in in a bill big big evaluation period because they need to be evaluated across the board, every player, especially those that came in on those prove it contracts. So yes, there needs to be a hierarchy created within this organization. I don’t see it. I don’t know where it is. I want to tip my hat to Mark Davis, but at the same point, when you hear those stories that you heard about, you know, Chip Kelly and Tom Brady, who who are you supposed to believe? These things don’t just leak out for a reason. I mean, for for no reason at all, right? Exactly. Yeah. There’s no doubt about it. There’s got to be a point guy, right? I mean, there’s got to be a point guy and then everything goes after that, right? The GM has to, you know, bring in the head coach. The head coach has to be able to hire his OC. His OC’s got to be able to help, you know, I mean, it just flows like that. You can’t, like I said earlier, man, you can’t have Lincoln pick the head coach and then I pick the OC and then Lincoln hires the offensive coordinator, offensive line coach. Like, I mean, it just it just can’t do that. It’s got to be a chain of command and and the Raiders don’t have that. And I thought that that’s why this staff was being put together the way it was. I thought, man, this is going to provide some stability that the Raiders haven’t had for a long time. And unfortunately, you know, heading into week 14 of the NFL season, we realize this is everything but stable. Yeah. Yeah. And I actually have a really good question for you guys if the Raiders should make a move for a quarterback in the league. But we’ll save that for the next episode. Speaking of the next episode, that’s going to be on Monday. Q and Link will be live from Q Studios. We’ll be breaking down the entire game. He will not be wearing his Denver shirt that he usually wears apparent. You know what I mean? Wow. Someone’s gonna believe that. Someone’s gonna believe that. No, no, no. He is not a Denver Broncos fan. Just want to put that out there. He just likes to wear red. I don’t I don’t know who thought the red was orange, but let’s not get it twisted this upcoming Monday. 7:30 a.m. Pacific time, 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. We’ll be back, Raider Nation. Thanks so much for rocking out with us and we’ll talk to you on Monday morning.

The Raiders Squad Show breaks down everything you need to know heading into Raiders vs Broncos. We start with the latest news and roster updates, then dive into a full game preview including keys to victory, offensive and defensive X-factors, and our predictions. We also look at which Raiders players need to “do something” and step up on the field this week. Plus, Q & Linc tackle the biggest fan questions and give their honest takes on what the team must fix to get back on track. Tap in for real talk, real analysis, and all things Raiders.

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