Changes were inevitable for the Las Vegas Raiders after they lost another dispiriting game in Week 8 to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.
At 3-5, the Raiders are most likely going to miss the postseason and that was enough to prompt owner Mark Davis to fire both Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels. It felt like a move that was coming given that the team has been underwhelming and the pair were unable to get any sort of consistency out of the roster.
Watching Las Vegas on a weekly basis, it was clear that McDaniels failed to get the Raiders properly ready for games as they often times struggled on both sides of the football. The game against Detroit was the final straw as they looked completely outmatched in the first half and drew boos from the Allegiant Stadium crowd.
However, Davis wasn’t done making changes as he and the organization also decided to fire offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi via Albert Breer of The MMQB:
The Raiders have also fired OC Mick Lombardi, per source.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 1, 2023
Without Lombardi, the team is naming quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree as the interim offensive coordinator:
The Raiders are making QBs coach Bo Hardegree their interim offensive coordinator, per source.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 1, 2023
Firing Lombardi made sense as he came along with Ziegler and McDaniels as part of their attempt to recreate the success of the New England Patriots. Lombardi’s offense never seemed to click with the current personnel and now he finds himself on the way out as well.
Davis understood that the current regime wasn’t working and so now he must figure out how he wants to build his franchise. The Raiders won’t have a clear idea of this until the offseason after using the second half of the 2023 season to evaluate the roster.
In the meantime, it’ll be interesting to see how the silver and black fare the rest of the way with the new faces in charge. With how bad the Raiders have looked, fans have to be feeling like the only way is up from here on out.
