The Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast is a complete recap of the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:08 It's great to be with you tonight.
00:10 We're literally, I just got out of the locker room and the Raiders fall 3-0, 3-0 to the
00:19 Minnesota Vikings.
00:22 There were some things that were really good.
00:24 There were some things that were terrible.
00:27 We're going to give you a complete recap of the game.
00:29 First of all, let's start with the defensive side of the ball where it would be unfair
00:34 to not start there because as great as they played tonight, the offense played worse.
00:41 I want to start with a positive.
00:43 I want to start by talking about something good.
00:46 The Raiders, five sacks.
00:48 Max Crosby, again, probably playing at about 70%.
00:53 He was 60 last week or two weeks ago.
00:55 You may remember I told you that I figured he was 60 earlier this week on NFL Network.
01:01 He said he was.
01:02 I'm told he was probably 70, 75 today.
01:06 He looked like about 70 to me just based on some first steps and some stuff.
01:12 He was amazing.
01:13 I thought Malcolm Koons played really well.
01:15 Jack Jones, who's only been here a couple weeks defensive back, he played really, really
01:20 well.
01:21 Meek Robertson looked good.
01:22 Nate Hobbs looked good.
01:24 Robert Spillane, Divine Diablo, Marcus Epps.
01:29 This Raider defense reminds so many people, myself included, of an old school Raider defense.
01:37 I know there's a lot of people frustrated with Antonio Pierce right now just because
01:41 the team lost.
01:42 I'm going to get to that in a minute.
01:43 I'm seeing people send me stuff on social media and even one person in the media, "Yeah,
01:48 go get Harbaugh or go get," they named a few other people.
01:52 Take Antonio Pierce, your DC.
01:54 Well, first of all, do you not think Patrick Graham's doing a phenomenal job?
02:01 Anyways, sticking with the defense, he's looked fantastic.
02:07 The defense just played.
02:10 You can only play whoever is on the schedule.
02:13 They looked fantastic today.
02:15 They found pressure.
02:16 They did some unique, a couple of unique things that I have not seen from them as far as blitz
02:21 is coming from a different area.
02:24 This is not, Patrick Graham is not a defense predicated on the blitz.
02:29 Again, defense looked great.
02:31 AJ Cole, very, very good.
02:33 Daniel Carlson kicked off, didn't get a chance to kick a field goal.
02:38 Really, you can't grade that and that's not on him.
02:43 There's nothing really great other than, excuse me, the kick to start the second half.
02:51 Again, special teams and defense are exactly what we thought they were.
02:57 Very, very good.
02:58 Again, for people saying, "Oh, you got to go rebuild."
03:01 No, you don't have to rebuild.
03:02 Your defense is in great shape.
03:04 Your special teams is in great shape.
03:06 You got a lot of weapons, a lot of weapons on offense.
03:12 It's just not clicking.
03:14 In fact, I said to Antonio Pierce after the game, "Coming off a bye, we had two weeks
03:20 to plan for you're an opponent.
03:23 Was it shocking at how bad your offense was?
03:25 It went backwards."
03:26 He says, "Yes, it is shocking.
03:30 It is."
03:31 Now, I want to make a couple of points because I think it's important.
03:35 I've said all along I'm rooting for AP.
03:37 I still am.
03:41 I was asked a couple of weeks ago.
03:42 You may remember, "Do you think you give him the job now?"
03:44 I said, "If he beat the Dolphins or either game with the Chiefs, yes.
03:50 But if he doesn't, no.
03:51 I think you let it play out to the end of the season and assess where you're at."
03:56 But I'm still rooting for him.
04:00 I want to address a couple of things.
04:01 I'm going to address his job situation, and then I'm going to get into the offense a little
04:07 bit.
04:08 I know that it's my job to be analytical.
04:13 It's my job to remove myself from emotion and to then process and disseminate to you
04:22 what I saw from a non-emotional standpoint.
04:26 Now, you, that's not your job.
04:31 You're a fan.
04:32 You get to absolutely assimilate it and take it any way you want.
04:35 I respect that totally.
04:37 I'm sorry for the yawning.
04:39 Excuse me.
04:40 Not sleeping real good.
04:42 Anyways, I want to address a couple of things with you that I think are really, really important.
04:49 Number one, he inherited this team after the trade deadline.
04:56 You can see a couple of players.
05:01 I forgot one of them's name because they're brand new, but there was one of the new players
05:05 that got a sack.
05:08 Jack Jones played tremendously well, and that's a guy that's only been here a couple of weeks.
05:16 So you can see where they're going.
05:26 That champ's been able to get some guys, which is very hard to do after the trade deadline.
05:33 But he inherits this offense.
05:35 He has to get rid of a bunch of the playbook because this team did not have the ability
05:40 to do it, and the rookie didn't.
05:44 And so if you want to say, okay, he sucks and shouldn't get the job because the offense
05:49 is bad, that's fine.
05:50 That's your opinion.
05:51 I'm sorry.
05:52 There are a lot of things they are doing right.
05:54 They only had four penalties.
05:59 That's manageable.
06:02 They're competing.
06:04 They're showing up.
06:05 They're competing and they're fighting.
06:07 They're fighting.
06:09 And I think that's all on AP.
06:13 He hasn't had the top two offensive guys, Josh McDaniels, Mick Lombardi out, Bo Hardegre
06:20 first time.
06:22 And there's a lot of things about the play calling.
06:24 I just scratched my head.
06:25 I'm going to ask Bo about it this week.
06:28 That didn't make sense to me, but he's learning as well.
06:32 So it isn't like AP was able to go out and hire a top tier offensive coordinator.
06:38 Now it doesn't mean that Hardegre maybe one day won't be one.
06:43 I don't think we've seen enough to make a decision that he can't be.
06:47 He's a rookie making rookie mistakes as a coordinator, and that happens.
06:51 But I don't think you throw AP away yet.
06:54 The team has not quit.
06:56 They're still fighting.
06:57 They're getting better in their discipline.
06:58 They're well-prepared.
06:59 They're in the game.
07:00 Are you going to tell me it's AP's fault that Hunter Renfro fumbles?
07:08 Is it AP's fault that they can't get a drive to go anywhere?
07:14 Sorry.
07:16 I'm just being a realist.
07:17 I hope he gets it.
07:18 Do I think he should get the job today?
07:20 No, haven't seen enough, but I'm rooting for him to get it.
07:26 And I have said if the Raiders continue on the trajectory that they were and got to nine
07:35 wins, 10 wins and didn't hire him, there'd be a mutiny.
07:39 And there would be.
07:40 They can still get to nine.
07:42 It's very difficult.
07:44 I think eight probably is their ceiling right now, probably, if they get the offense fixed.
07:50 But the offense was a couple things that you need to remember.
07:53 Colton Miller, one of the best left tackles, didn't play at all.
07:57 And Josh Jacobs was hurt early.
07:59 That's why they had to go away from the running game.
08:01 Now it clearly tells you that they're in the market for a new running back because with
08:06 Josh Jacobs can't perform, and Zemir White not being in there tells you everything you
08:12 need to know.
08:14 All right.
08:15 Nice having you, Z.
08:16 Love you.
08:17 Great kid.
08:18 But for whatever reason, this organization doesn't believe you're able to step in and
08:23 be the number two.
08:25 And you didn't see an Amir Abdul or a Brandon Bolden getting 25 carries, obviously.
08:33 So when Josh goes down, who's arguably one of the best, if not the best running back
08:38 in all the NFL and one of the best left tackles, okay, you're going to be affected.
08:43 Not this bad.
08:44 This was chicken crap, and I'm not going to try to sell you chicken salad.
08:49 It's crap.
08:52 It's terrible.
08:53 If that offense would have been arrested tonight by the Metro PD for being an NFL offense,
09:00 there would not have been enough evidence to convict them.
09:03 Okay.
09:04 It's just the reality of it.
09:06 It's a win league.
09:09 I'm not attacking any of their character.
09:11 They're good guys.
09:14 It's just what it was.
09:15 It was not a good performance, terrible performance by the Raiders offense tonight.
09:20 And it cost them a game.
09:23 Make no mistakes.
09:24 This game was not lost because of AP.
09:26 It was not lost because of anyone in the special teams, and it was not lost by anyone on the
09:31 defense.
09:32 It was lost by every single offensive player.
09:37 You lost your team this game.
09:40 It's a reality.
09:43 And to present it any other way would again, be trying to sell you chicken salad out of
09:48 chicken crap, and I'm not doing that to you.
09:51 Just the reality.
09:52 No, it's also the reality.
09:54 Josh Jacobs wasn't healthy.
09:57 It's also the reality Colton Miller didn't play.
09:59 Those are all germane.
10:01 It's also the reality that Hunter Renfro, you know, a pro bowl wide receiver fumbles
10:07 in the red zone, in the red zone.
10:12 Unacceptable.
10:15 Can't make those mistakes.
10:16 Rookies.
10:17 Yeah.
10:18 If it had been Michael Merritt caught a ball and got hit and fumbled, you say, all right,
10:21 rookie mistake sucks, but it's a rookie mistake.
10:24 No, this is a guy that went to a pro bowl, paid big money.
10:30 You get a change in the regime.
10:33 You're getting there now to be more active.
10:35 You can't have those fumbles.
10:38 Okay.
10:39 Aiden O'Connell.
10:41 Do I would, I was a hundred percent convinced for good reasons that I can't get into that
10:47 they were going to be more aggressive.
10:49 So why the heck are they throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage?
10:51 Why are they throwing the ball one yard off the line of scrimmage?
10:55 Why on third and six or third and whatever, if it's third and six, you throw the ball
10:59 five yards.
11:00 Why?
11:01 It doesn't make sense.
11:05 John Madden used to get livid when he was a television personality.
11:09 If it's third and six, then throw it six and a half yards.
11:15 I don't get it.
11:17 And I'm going to ask bullhard.
11:18 I got some tough questions for him, not going after him.
11:20 He's a rookie and you know, I give people 20 games, but I got some really tough questions
11:25 about, you know, what is your thinking process with throwing so much behind the line of scrimmage
11:30 or one yard?
11:32 What's your thinking process?
11:33 Even having routes in your route tree on a third and seven, you got guys running five
11:36 yards.
11:37 I mean, the last drive of the game, they're trying to do something.
11:44 You got to get all the way down the field and Aiden's thrown a 10 yard pass.
11:48 What the heck?
11:51 That's on play calling.
11:52 And I know he's a rookie and he deserves 20 games.
11:56 There's a learning process, but come on, Bo, you played in the sec and you've been a coach
12:03 a long time.
12:04 You got to know that's not wise.
12:08 It's not wise.
12:09 That just doesn't make sense to me.
12:11 I can't figure it out and I'm going to have to ask about it.
12:15 And again, not attacking anybody.
12:18 It's just the reality.
12:20 Now there's only four games left.
12:24 Have we seen enough from Bo Hardegre to think that he is the guy to be the offensive coordinator
12:29 next year?
12:30 No, I don't think we, I think if AP were to get the job, he's going to go after somebody
12:36 who's more experienced.
12:37 In fact, I'm certain of that.
12:40 Doesn't mean Bo's a bad guy.
12:41 Doesn't mean he shouldn't keep a place on the staff.
12:43 I don't know that.
12:44 If AP gets the job, that's AP's call, not mine.
12:47 He doesn't care what I think.
12:49 I don't think you've seen enough from AP.
12:51 I think you still have seen a lot from AP.
12:53 That's encouraging.
12:54 I'll give you another one.
12:57 You want to know one other thing I liked about AP tonight?
13:02 In the press conference.
13:03 I asked, go watch the video.
13:05 I posted it.
13:06 Asked in the press conference.
13:08 Hey, because he said, I'm going to go look at the entire organization.
13:12 Someone asked him, does that include coordinators?
13:13 He said the entire organization.
13:16 He's calling his coaches out and saying, I'm going to go look and see what I can do.
13:23 I think that's brilliant.
13:24 I think that's brilliant.
13:27 He's letting everybody know it's all about winning.
13:30 Dear God, Raider Nation, I've been covering this team.
13:33 Now this is the fourth year.
13:35 And even with Gruden, you didn't see it like this.
13:38 He was a frustrated coach.
13:40 Because I'm checking everything.
13:41 It's only about winning.
13:45 I'm sorry.
13:46 I don't think we've seen enough to say AP isn't qualified for this job.
13:51 And you may say I'm kissing his rear end.
13:53 No, I'm not.
13:54 I have no reason to.
13:57 Josh McDaniels was here and after 20 games, I went right after him because it was legitimate.
14:03 And I'm sorry.
14:05 I've not seen enough from AP to make that statement.
14:09 I'm still rooting for the guy.
14:11 And I think if they go out and he makes some significant adjustments and they beat the
14:15 Bolts on Thursday without Herbert or even with Herbert, I don't care, they should beat
14:19 him.
14:20 And I think there's some chances here.
14:24 Okay, so let's address the fact the offense looked terrible.
14:27 Bo is a rookie.
14:28 Aiden is a rookie.
14:29 But you got to put your rookie in a spot to succeed.
14:32 If you know it's third and seven or third and six, you got to call routes where your
14:37 receivers are past the marker.
14:40 You don't just keep throwing it.
14:42 Some of the plays just, you know, the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing, expecting
14:46 a different result.
14:48 You're here to win football games.
14:50 Now, a lot of people clamoring, why didn't Jimmy G go in?
14:54 So let me tell you why.
14:56 And then you make the decision if you like it or not.
15:00 I essentially believe, even though they're not mathematically eliminated, that the Raiders
15:04 are out of the playoff hunt.
15:06 I don't think you're getting to the playoffs with nine wins.
15:09 Okay, so Jimmy has a propensity to be injured.
15:15 That's not speaking poorly of his character because there's nothing to talk poorly about.
15:19 Good guy.
15:21 And so it's like Derek last year.
15:23 If you know he's not going to be your guy next year, do you play him and take the shot
15:28 of him getting injured?
15:29 Now his roster bonus is already there, but you save about 11 million bucks when you get
15:35 rid of him.
15:37 Okay.
15:38 Now one school of thought is you're still in the playoff hunt.
15:43 Make the switch to Jimmy and roll the dice.
15:45 And I think there's a lot of reasons that you can make that argument.
15:50 Me personally, I would have put Jimmy in.
15:57 Probably about halfway through the third quarter, I would have put Jimmy in.
16:04 I think you've seen enough now from Aiden that you can't rule him out as a potential
16:09 QB one in the future.
16:12 But I think you've seen enough from now to know, okay, we got to go get somebody else
16:15 in the draft and it needs to be somebody with mobility.
16:18 You've heard me say it a lot.
16:19 I think you got to have a quarterback who is able to move things with his legs.
16:24 You saw a couple of plays tonight where Aiden actually did that.
16:28 I tweeted about one.
16:29 I don't remember when it was.
16:30 I don't have my notes here because I went off my notes for this podcast.
16:35 I may go back to him for tomorrow, but where he went to his right, was able to find a guy
16:40 down the field.
16:43 But I think it's too soon to say he can't be a QB one in this league.
16:50 I think it's too soon to say he is a QB one in this league.
16:55 And so that means to me, you got to go get a guy in the draft.
16:59 You got to go get somebody.
17:00 And dear God, it's got to be somebody with mobility in their legs.
17:04 I expect the Raiders to have a minimum of two, possibly three quarterbacks next year
17:10 new, but a minimum of two.
17:13 That's just the reality of the situation.
17:15 It is what it is.
17:17 So, if you know Jimmy's not your guy, like with Derek, do you put him in there?
17:24 Now, again, I would have, because to me, it's about winning now.
17:31 Years ago, the Detroit Tigers traded my buddy, Johnny Smoltz, who went to Waverly High School.
17:36 Well, actually went to Lansing, but whatever, went to Catholic Central, then went to Waverly.
17:42 And they traded him and some other draft picks, the Tigers did to Atlanta to get Dole Alexander.
17:49 The Tigers went on and won the World Series.
17:51 Well, Johnny Smoltz went on to become a great pitcher.
17:55 And I mean, to be a great elite pitcher.
17:59 And I love Johnny.
18:00 Good guy, friend.
18:03 But for years, you heard Tiger fans bemoaning the trading of Johnny Smoltz, and I get it.
18:10 But then you have to remind them, they won a World Series.
18:14 You don't trade World Series.
18:17 Now, that being said, you have a chance for the playoffs.
18:25 I probably would have went with Jimmy.
18:28 I don't think it's a Super Bowl team.
18:30 So I think that gets in my crawl a little bit, but I'm competitive.
18:34 I would have went with Jimmy somewhere in the third quarter.
18:38 They made the decision not to.
18:40 Now, now that they're essentially out of the playoffs, he's got to be your third quarterback,
18:46 in my opinion.
18:47 You put Brian Hoyer as the backup.
18:50 Just because at some point, do you just keep sticking with tonight, maybe having a pro,
18:58 a seasoned veteran who would take some risks?
19:03 Maybe that would have been the answer.
19:05 Just saying.
19:06 I don't know.
19:07 Obviously, we're second guessing.
19:09 I think, no.
19:12 I know AP is second guessing it because he said he's going to go back and reevaluate
19:17 everything.
19:19 One thing I like about AP is he's blunt honest.
19:23 If he didn't feel that way, he'd say, "No, I don't feel that way."
19:27 But he said, "I got to go back and evaluate it."
19:30 So again, I think your defense played outstanding.
19:33 Patrick Graham has been a superstar, superstar as your defensive coordinator.
19:42 Then you come in and I think your special teams have been great.
19:47 The struggle is with your offense.
19:50 And you can't talk about the struggles with the offense without mentioning Colton out,
19:55 Josh injured.
19:57 But you also can't mention it without some questionable play calling and a couple of
20:02 times some questionable effort.
20:04 If guys want the ball, guys got to get open.
20:11 And I don't care who it is.
20:12 I don't care if it's Devante, Jacoby, Hunter.
20:15 I don't care if it's Trey Tucker.
20:17 I don't care if whoever it is.
20:21 Whomever you want the ball, got to go get open.
20:25 So very disappointing tonight.
20:29 This is a game they should have had.
20:31 This is another one of those games this year that gets racked up.
20:34 I thought they would win.
20:36 They didn't and should have won.
20:39 Clearly, anybody that watched that football game, any one of the teams could have won.
20:45 And I think quite frankly, anyone who watched that football game, the Raiders defense stopped
20:55 the Vikings offense.
20:57 And the Raiders offense stopped the Raiders offense.
21:01 And that's terribly frustrating.
21:04 So moving forward, a complete recap.
21:07 I think the future is beginning to be defined a little bit.
21:13 Not this week, but next week.
21:17 I'm hoping to spend some significant time digging and really breaking down Champ Kelly
21:26 for you.
21:27 He's a potential GM.
21:29 Again, what he's been able to do, he's done.
21:35 But his hands are tied with the trade deadline and everything else.
21:40 So I think you have to look back at his whole career, and we're going to break that down
21:45 for you a lot next week.
21:48 Additionally, though, again, I am not convinced that AP is not the guy.
21:56 I'm not.
21:57 When you've got your special teams and your defenses playing at a very good level, when
22:02 you got weapons all over the place, and you're really a quarterback away, I don't know why
22:11 you rebuild.
22:12 And quite frankly, I think this fan base has had it up to here with the rebuilding.
22:20 And they're like, "Okay, just win, baby.
22:23 Just win."
22:24 I said earlier, "Don't try to sell me a chicken sandwich that's chicken crap.
22:30 Just win."
22:31 So the recap was the offense.
22:33 Listen, I know they're going to tell you it was a team loss.
22:36 Okay, that's right.
22:38 The team did lose.
22:40 But make no mistake, the offense lost it.
22:44 Period.
22:46 The offense lost it.
22:47 This isn't a game you put on officiating.
22:49 It isn't a game that you put on everybody.
22:54 That's not fair.
22:55 If I'm a defensive player and I'm sitting home tonight, I know it's a team sport.
23:01 I know it.
23:03 And I know there are games that the defense didn't play great, but I'm ticked tonight.
23:09 I'm ticked.
23:10 Should have won that football game.
23:12 And you didn't.
23:13 And you got $102 million offense.
23:17 And a $60 million offense that isn't even a $60 million defense, that isn't even a $60
23:24 million defense when you take Chandler Jones and his salary out of the mix.
23:29 It's down to 40 something, high 40s.
23:33 So that's the complete recap.
23:35 I appreciate you.
23:36 Going to have a lot more tomorrow.
23:39 Obviously we'll have a press conference with AP tomorrow when I talk to the coordinators
23:42 this week, but it's a short turnaround game day coming up on Thursday.
23:47 Also from all of us here at Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast,
23:52 part of the Fans First Sports Network.
23:55 I'm your host, Hondo Carpenter.
23:57 Thanks for joining us.
23:59 Appreciate all of you.
24:00 Merry Christmas to you.
24:01 Again, short game week.
24:03 Have to have a short memory.
24:04 Get right back to work.
24:05 We'll see you all later.
24:06 Thanks for tuning in.
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