Things are not going well for the Las Vegas Raiders. The team fell to 2-4 after a 32-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The players are clearly frustrated and cameras caught star defensive end Maxx Crosby shoving linebackers coach Mike Caldwell as he didn’t seem happy. However, it may not have been that serious.
Crosby took to X to explain what happened.
Mike Caldwell Is My Guy. One Of The Best People In The Business. Thats A Love Push, Stop Reaching,” Crosby wrote.
Mike Caldwell Is My Guy. One Of The Best People In The Business. Thats A Love Push, Stop Reaching. #RN4L
While there was nothing about the shove or push that seemed loving, Crosby was wise to get ahead of this. The Raiders appear to be a team that’s falling apart and the last thing they need are rumors about Crosby being unhappy.
Caldwell is still relatively new to the team as he joined the coaching staff this offseason. As the linebackers coach, he likely doesn’t have too much day-to-day with Crosby but it sounds like they have a relationship. There’s no reason to believe that the two have a fractured relationship, especially with Crosby coming out so quickly to clarify the situation.
Raiders Are a Mess
The Raiders are clearly not a good football team right now. For the second week in a row, the team was blown out. To make matters worse, this is the second blowout loss at home this season.
Las Vegas is very bad on both offense and defense. Many expected the team to struggle on offense but the defense was thought to be the team’s strength. That hasn’t been the case so far as the Raiders have one of the worst statistical defenses in the NFL.
At 2-4, the Raiders are quickly digging themselves into a deep hole. If they don’t start winning soon, they’ll be out of the playoff mix early in the year.
All Eyes on Antonio Pierce
Antonio Pierce was not on anybody’s radar to be a head coach last season before the Raiders gave him the interim job after firing Josh McDaniels. However, he impressed owner Mark Davis with how he turned the team around and led them to a 5-4 record.
Players pushed for the Raiders to give him the full-time head coaching job and Davis ended up doing just that. Now that he’s the man in charge, his team is leaving a lot to be desired. Unlike last season, the team is committing careless penalties, turning the ball over consistently and the defense is playing poorly.
The reason Pierce got the job was because he seemed to have the team playing well in those facets. It’s starting to look like that had more to do with the Raiders catching some lightning in the bottle at the end of last season.
The jury is still out on Pierce but he has limited experience and wouldn’t have been a head coach this season had it not been for the Raiders. It’s starting to look like he may be in over his head. If the Raiders keep playing like this, Davis is going to have a big decision to make at the end of the season. He doesn’t want to have another coaching change but as of right now, Pierce doesn’t seem like he’s the right guy.
