As Raiders Head for Historic Low, Drastic Changes Should Be Considered

After a 23-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday, the Oakland Raiders have lost 13 straight games dating back to last season. That’s the worst streak in franchise history and one of the 15 worst in the history of the NFL.

There were positives from Sunday’s game just as there have been positives this season, but a few positives don’t mean much when the team is 0-7 and marching toward 0-16. The only team with a sub-.500 record the Raiders play over the final nine games is the St. Louis Rams, but they play them on the road.

If the Raiders don’t win a game this season, they will own the second-worst losing streak in NFL history. That’s the kind of futility that demands drastic changes. The Raiders need a franchise-altering change to help expel 12 years with at least eight losses, which they will likely achieve next week—the fourth-longest streak in NFL history.

The Raiders are already committed to major changes in 2015, but no change should be too big to be off the table. Owner Mark Davis should consider having a neutral third party evaluate the football operations, including his role, the performance of the front office and the performance of the coaching staff. Davis' most trusted advisers may not be good enough. 

The knee-jerk reaction is to just fire everyone and start fresh, but that’s not always the best course of action. It’s actually what got the Raiders into the mess they are currently in. The Raiders fired then-head coach Hue Jackson, blew up the roster and changed all the schemes when McKenzie was hired just over two years ago.

Some of the moves have been wise, but some may have actually hurt the Raiders. Poorly performing teams aren’t void of positive performing members. Look no further than the performance of rookie first-round pick Khalil Mack to see that the performance of an individual doesn’t always result in the performance of the team.

Mack was a disruptive force against the Browns and single-handedly made at least one stop on third down. Although Mack doesn’t have a sack this season, he’s more than proving he was worthy of the fifth overall pick and is a serious candidate for defensive rookie of the year. Brian Hoyer (and the team, per Hoyer) felt Mack's one of the toughest opponents on defense via FoxSportsOhio.com's Zac Jackson: 

After Sunday’s game in Cleveland, some changes are inevitable. Interim head coach Tony Sparano gave a green light to running back Darren McFadden throwing a pass to quarterback Derek Carr and a fake field goal on the team’s opening drive that resulted in an interception by way of backup quarterback Matt Schaub.  

Sparano is now 0-3 as interim head coach, and the boost the team was supposed to receive from firing head coach Dennis Allen after four games only lasted one game. That boost was coming off the bye week when the team had extra time to prepare, so how much Sparano has really been able to affect change is debatable.

Sparano and the rest of the coaching staff will likely be gone, save maybe a few position coaches. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson called 54 pass plays to just 20 run plays against the worst-ranked run defense in the entire league. The Raiders averaged 4.7 yards per carry on the ground Sunday, so the situation certainly called for more running plays.

On 3rd-and-1 on Oakland’s second drive, Olson called a pass play that fell incomplete. In the same situation two drives later, Olson called for a fullback dive, and Jamize Olawale didn’t gain a single yard. End around to wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, screen passes to James Jones and an underutilization of Brice Butler are prime examples of why Olson won’t be back next season.

Defensive coordinator Jason Tarver had a better day than normal on Sunday. His defense stopped an offense that had been one of the best on the ground, and the Browns were 2-of-12 on third down. The performance was not enough to ignore the team’s lack of performance on that side of the ball this season.

Keeping quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo makes sense based on his work with rookie Derek Carr and to ease the transition for him next season. Beyond that, the Raiders may not keep many coaches next season.

The roster is also likely to see a lot of new faces next season. According to Over The Cap, the team currently has just 41 players under contract next season, and that includes nine veterans McKenzie signed in the offseason that can be released without a cap hit.

Only a handful of those players have performed well enough to stick next season. Wide receiver James Jones had six receptions for 62 yards Sunday and is clearly Carr’s favorite target. Carr even missed a wide- open Thompkins on a 3rd-and-5 because he trusted his first read Jones to make a tough back-shoulder catch.

Player	2014 Stats	2015 Cap Hit	Dead Money if Cut
Matt Schaub	1 Pass, 1 INT	$5.5 million	$0
Justin Tuck	2 sacks	$5.0 million	$0
Lamarr Woodley (On IR)	0 Sacks, 6 Games	$5.35 million	$0
Antonio Smith	0 sacks	$4.0 million	$0
Donald Penn	1 Sack Allowed	$5.0 million	$0
Usama Young (On IR)	1 Sack, 1 Pass Defensed	$1.1 million	$0
James Jones	36 Rec, 425 Yards, 3 Touchdowns	$3.1 million	$0
Maurice Jones-Drew	24 Rush, 56 Rush Yards, 2.3 YPC	$2.5 million	$0
Charles Woodson	2 INT, 1 FR	FA	FA
Carlos Rogers	1 Pass Defensed	FA	FA
Tarell Brown	1 Passes Defensed	FA	FA
Pat Sims	NA	FA	FA
C.J. Wilson	2 sacks	FA	FA

Left Donald Penn and to a lesser extent defensive end Justin Tuck are the only other veteran free agents the Raiders signed in 2014 that they should consider keeping in 2015. After a few cuts, the Raiders should have close to $60 million in cap space in 2015 for which to improve a lackluster talent roster.

The most drastic changes the Raiders can make are in the front office. While it’s hard to imagine McKenzie surviving 0-16, it’s worth noting that Ron Wolf’s tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers produced the worst losing streak in NFL history of 26 games from 1976-1977. Wolf is one of two finalists for the Hall of Fame in the contributor this year.

Wolf worked for Raiders owner Al Davis before and after his stint with the Buccaneers and helped him build multiple Super Bowl teams.

Wolf left in 1991 to become the general manager of the Green Bay Packers where he traded for quarterback Brett Favre, won a Super Bowl, built a perennial contender and developed front-office talent, including current general managers Ted Thompson in Green Bay, John Schneider in Seattle, John Dorsey in Kansas City and McKenzie.

As far as drastic changes to the front office, the Raiders may have just two options: keep McKenzie and most of his front office, which would be a drastic change in protocol in Oakland or clean house and hire a president to insulate owner Mark Davis and assist him in making his next hire.

Just firing McKenzie may make the Oakland’s general manager job radioactive to the best candidates. The job will be enticing due to some of the young talent and the cap space, but a trigger-happy and meddling owner isn’t going to attract top front-office talent.

Oakland already has enough trouble attracting top talent given the quality of its facilities. If a stadium deal doesn’t materialize in the coming months, the Raiders aren’t going to be an attractive destination for top free agents.

The Raiders aren’t going anywhere this year, but the evaluation for next year should already be underway. With every passing embarrassment, it’s clear that drastic changes need to be made, even if the drastic moves are not what you might expect.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics via Pro-Football-Reference.com.