If new Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie had any doubts about whether Hue Jackson was moving the Raiders in the right direction, the former Packers director of football operations got the definitive answer last month at Lambeau Field watching Green Bay manhandle Oakland 46-16.
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Hue Jackson has been fired after just one season coaching the Oakland Raiders, after the team struggled down the stretch to finish a disappointing 8-8, missing out on the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year.The Raiders made the decision to part ties with Jackson on the same day that Reggie McKenzie is set to join the team as its new general manager, according to reports from ESPN.com.
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If they want to be anything more than a joke to the rest of the NFL, the Raiders will have to make some critical structural changes this offseason.
Al Davis ran a one-man show, and when he died, he left a total vacuum. Amy Trask handles financial and legal matters, but she doesn’t make football decisions. Long-time front-office holdover John Herrera has done myriad jobs, but none of them has involved making football decisions.
So, the first task for owner Mark Davis will be to hire a general manager.
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Oh, those Raiders. So many penalties. “After the flags, guys come up to me on the sidelines, and say, that’s what happens when you play for the Raiders,” mused quarterback Carson Palmer.
Oh those Raiders, blown out by Green Bay, giving up a late lead to Detroit, ranked fourth-worst in the NFL in total defense.
Oh those Raiders, still capable for the first time in nine seasons to both finish with a winning record and make the playoffs.
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Carson Palmer and the Oakland Raiders are still alive in the AFC West.
It came at the expense of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 36-yard field goal 2:13 into overtime Saturday, giving the Raiders a 16-13 victory that kept alive their playoff hopes and left Kansas City wondering what might have been.
Carson Palmer threw for 237 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders (8-7). His perfectly thrown 53-yard pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey early in overtime set up Janikowski's winning kick, allowing Oakland to avoid a second straight late-game meltdown.
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Carson Palmer didn't stand much of a chance the last time he faced the Kansas City Chiefs.The Raiders had traded for him just a few days after Jason Campbell went down with a broken collarbone, and thrust him into the game against Kansas City with little preparation. He was part of a combined six-interception performance by Oakland quarterbacks in a frustrating shutout loss.In some ways, Kyle Orton understands what Palmer was going through.
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For the better part of four quarters Sunday, Darrius Heyward-Bey seemed to atone for his bumbling performance Dec. 11 in Green Bay, where the third-year receiver dropped three passes in the 46-16 loss against the Packers. And despite having statistically the best game of his career Sunday against the Detroit Lions, tallying 155 yards on eight receptions with one touchdown, Heyward-Bey has yet to complete that one stellar game that doesn’t feature a crucial mistake.
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The Raiders had the game, and then they didn’t.
“We let it slip,” Raiders safety Tyvon Branch said.
They had the game, then the Detroit Lions had it.
“We can’t finish,” said Oakland coach Hue Jackson. “To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.”
They had the game, and then they had another defeat on their record, now 7-7. “A team went 98 yards against us,” Jackson said. “We didn’t make a play.”
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It couldn’t have been the debut Carson Palmer envisioned, stepping onto the field for the first time as a Raider trailing Kansas City 21-0 in the third quarter on Oct. 23.
But that situation — perhaps like his arm that day — was out of his control.
Now, seven weeks removed from his performance against the Chiefs, in which Palmer completed eight of 21 passes for 116 yards while being picked three times, the 2002 Heisman Trophy winner seemingly remains a passing enigma.
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The question arose again on an afternoon when the Niners once more had trouble scoring touchdowns and the Raiders simply had trouble playing football: What if San Francisco had selected Aaron Rodgers with the first pick in the 2005 NFL draft?Growing up in Chico, playing for Cal — where he once completed 23 straight passes against USC — Rodgers was a 49er fan. That the 49ers — specifically coach Mike Nolan — chose Alex Smith and Rodgers slipped to 24th, taken by Green Bay, always may haunt San Francisco.
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