Raiders are blowing it

The Jon Gruden experiment is bound to fail. The average head coach of Oakland and Tampa fame has never been anything special. So his re-entry into the coaching profession is puzzling to say the least. An optimist will tell you he is an offensive wizard who is known as a quarterback whisperer of sorts. Which is all fine and good. Derrick Carr could use fresh eyes. What is incredibly puzzling and also unsurprising is his obsession with a 1998 style of football, a far cry from the intricacies of the current game. Forever the head strong optimist Gruden aggressively implemented his blast from the past style by accumulating a 2012 all star team. He stocked the team with old guys such as Doug Martin and Jordy Nelson. On the defensive side of the ball the team was still aggressively average if totally neglected in the recent team revamp. The only reason the defence was passable was the presence of Khalil Mack. You might know Mack as the only player in recent memory to be named an all-pro at two positions. Mack made the decision that he wanted to be paid what he is worth. Not an unreasonable request from one of the top 3 defensive players in the entire league. What do the Raiders do? Freeze him out and refuse to indulge him in negotiations. This situation reached a boiling point this week when Mack claimed he would sit out regular season games to get his point across. That was the last straw for a coach that appeared indifferent to the plight of the best player on his roster. Today they made a tragic error in trading Mack to the Bears. Now, the return was reasonable (2 first round picks) but this is not a rebuilding team. This is a team that is in a confusing spot, you could say they are competing now with their aggressive free agent approach. However, their talent or lack thereof on defence says otherwise. Raiders fans are destined for a purgatory not unfamiliar to John Gruden lead teams, 8-8 and a refusal to rebuild. Dark days ahead.

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