Oakland Raiders coach
has changed.After promising in January to deliver Oakland fans two of the best
years of football he could before the team leaves for Las Vegas in
2020
White Jordan Howard Jerseys , Gruden is now preaching patience after three straight losses to open the season. Gruden is feeling the heat that comes with a
rough start on the field for a coach with a 10-year contract worth a reported
$100 million."It's justifiable," Gruden said. "I have a pretty good idea of what
this business is all about. But I'm also realistic. I'm also very optimistic.
I'm going to continue to work hard. I think I have as good a coaching staff as
there is in football. The results will happen. It might not happen this week. It
might not happen this month, next month, but we're going to get results here and
we're going to get this Oakland Raider football team back on track. We just have
to prove it."The only thing the Raiders have proven so far in three weeks is
that they can stay close even if they can't win. Oakland has led at halftime in
all three games before ending up on the losing side, becoming just the second
team in 20 seasons to start 0-3 despite leading every game at the half.The
Raiders haven't trailed for a single second in the first three quarters all
season, falling behind on the final play of the third in the opener against the
Rams and then blowing late leads in back-to-back weeks on the road at Denver and
Miami. Oakland hosts Cleveland on Sunday.That inability to finish has only been
heightened because of Gruden's biggest decision yet as coach. He traded away
star pass rusher Khalil Mack to Chicago for a package of draft picks after Mack
held out in a contract dispute.That decision only looks worse each week as the
Raiders rank last in the league with one takeaway and three sacks, while Mack
has four sacks, three forced fumbles
Jordan Howard Jerseys 2019 , one fumble recovery and an interception return for a touchdown all on his own."It's hard to trade one of your best players. One of
the best players on a franchise," Gruden said. "It's hard. It's hard on the
players. We didn't get anything for him that's going to help us out this year.
... We have a lot of guys on the defensive line that are out. We have had to
replace basically the entire secondary, some of the linebackers, and we're in
the process of putting the pieces back together."When owner Mark Davis lured
Gruden out of the broadcast booth, the hope was that better coaching was all it
would take to get the Raiders back to the level they were at when they won 12
games in 2016 ??their only winning season since 2002, the year after Gruden was
traded to Tampa Bay by late owner Al Davis.But Gruden clearly believed the
roster wasn't that close to winning. He spent much of the offseason cutting ties
with recent high draft picks made by general manager Reggie McKenzie, and
brought in several veterans to fill the holes created by those wasted draft
classes he has been quick to bemoan.The results from those veterans have been
mixed, with a few good performances like Jordy Nelson's big receiving game in
Miami but not much impact overall.The Raiders had been spending the past few
years trying to build their team around Mack and quarterback Derek Carr. With
Mack traded
White Ha Ha Clinton-Dix Jerseys , Carr is the only pillar remaining and the big step forward the team hoped he'd take under Gruden's tutelage has yet to
materialize.Carr is completing 76.6 percent of his passes and averaging 312
yards passing per game. But he is also tied for the league high with five
interceptions and has failed to lead the offense to more than 20 points in any
game.Carr has been criticized by Gruden for not taking some deep shots to Amari
Cooper in the opener, and being overly aggressive on a fourth-quarter
interception in the end zone that thwarted a comeback attempt last week in
Miami."We're figuring that out together," Carr said of striking the right
balance of aggressiveness and prudence.All is not hopeless in Oakland as
evidenced by the fact the Raiders have actually been in the lead nearly
two-thirds of the time this season. Gruden's offense has some new wrinkles he's
taken from closely watching the rest of the league from his time as a
broadcaster.He has frequently been able to develop schemes that have receivers
open downfield, and the Raiders have moved the ball consistently even if it
hasn't led to points. Oakland has the sixth-most yards but the fifth-fewest
points this season, a dichotomy that stems from the worst starting field
position in the league and some red-zone struggles.The defense has looked sound
most of the time, but has been burned by a handful of big plays that have proved
decisive.Gruden has been around long enough to know that progress means little
without results."We have to start putting some wins in the column and that's
what Raiders fans want," Gruden said. "That's what we want and that's what we
are after." On this episode, Bears over Beers host Jeff Berkes joins Robert S.
to hand out end of season awards. Who is the MVBear? Who was the Most Surprising
Player? Will Jay Cutler pass the "Best Hair" torch? Find out on this episode of
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Ha Ha Clinton-Dix Jerseys 2019 ,14commentsOn this episode, Bears over Beers host Jeff Berkes joins Robert S. to hand out end of season awards. Who is
the MVBear? Who was the Most Surprising Player? Will Jay Cutler pass the “Best
Hair” torch? Find out on this episode of Bear With
Me!CSTShareTweetShareShareBear With Me: The Bearscars (With Jeff Berckes!)He won
Coach of the Year, but will Nagy take home a Bearscar?Dale Zanine-USA TODAY
SportsHey Bears fans! Welcome to the 2018 Bearscar Awards, where Jeff Berckes
and I hand out awards to deserving honorees for their performance this season.
The Bearscars that will be handed out are:MVBearBest GameBest Performance By a
Role PlayerWorst PlayWorst GameNewcomer of the YearMost Surprising PlayerBiggest
DisappointmentSmallest Story that Ended Up MatteringBiggest Story that Didn’t
End Up MatteringPlayer Most Likely to Break a Bears RecordOffseason Move of the
YearPlayer Most Likely to Break Out Next YearBest HairIt’s a great show and a
good time, so be sure to check it out!Also, the poll is back! Be sure to vote on
what you’d like to hear about in BWM18!
