Urgent Raiders Issues No. 1: Critical in-Game Adjustments

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders have been plagued for many seasons by their failure to make critical in-game adjustments.

This past year you saw the Raiders establish multiple double-digit leads, only to see them lose when other teams adjusted, and the Raiders did not.

It was the same during the Jon Gruden era when, stubbornly, everyone knew the play being called, yet Gruden would attack a defense stacked for his call, and it would fail.

There is a misnomer in the sports world, especially football, that coaches make these scientific anomalies on a chalkboard in the halftime locker room, and I can tell you that is as rare as a unicorn.

What happens is that elite coaches know how to make changes on the fly to schemes and concepts, sometimes dating to training camp, to create countermeasures to what the opponent is doing.

I am not saying that player execution was not a critical part of the Raiders' lack of success in 2022. But, I am saying that when the players execute at a high enough level to establish double-digit leads, the coaching staff must anticipate changes and be ready to adapt.

Many things hurt the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 and in the previous seasons. These critical concerns have been discussed, but moving forward, the in-game adjustments must improve immediately.

I once asked legendary NFL Coach Don Shula about adjustments. He told me: "Fighter pilots must make split-second changes to their plan when an enemy appears. I don't think football is as important as war, but they do have similarities: when my opponent makes a change, I have to be ready to make one as well."

Shula concluded: "I can't go make plays on the field, that is why we pay players, but I call them. When they do what I ask, and the play doesn't work, that is on the coaches."

I couldn't agree more.

Multiple times in 2022, Josh McDaniels failed to make adjustments. Teams were able to make changes and come back.

McDaniels bristled at criticism of him becoming too conservative at times, but he was. When I asked him about his staff's coaching decisions, he seemed unshaken.

That is fine, that is his prerogative, but as of now, he has made no changes to his staff. If those miscues continue, none of them will have jobs.

Josh McDaniels and his 2022 staff are not the first in the history of the Las Vegas Raiders who failed to make critical in-game adjustments. All of the previous ones are gone.

This staff has every right to point out player execution errors; they were rampant all over the field.

Let's not pretend there weren't equally as frustrating blunders in a failure to make in-game adjustments.

On Monday, we begin a new series on the five biggest reasons for Raider Nation to be optimistic about the 2023 season.

The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. The NFL Scouting Combine is Feb. 28-March 6, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. On March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. Starting at 12 p.m. EDT on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EDT on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.

The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.

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