Browns: Evaluating the opponents for the 2021 NFL Season
By Chad Porto
Week 15 – Raiders (Home)
The sentence “LOLZ, John Gruden” should describe this situation. Let’s dispel a big misconception about Gruden, that the game “passed him by”. It didn’t. That’s because it never stopped at his doorstep. Gruden is good at calling plays. No one should deny that even in his return he’s a competent play-caller. The problem is, he’s not the offensive coordinator. He’s also the head coach and team GM. Granted, Mike Mayock holds the official title but Gruden is the mastermind, everyone is aware of this.
Gruden inherited most of his 1998 Raiders squad and only ever added established veterans to it. During his four years in Oakland, he only had two winning seasons before replacing Tony Dungey in Tampa Bay. He inherited a Super Bowl winner and then killed it the next year. Gruden doesn’t know how to build a team or coach it, just how to call plays. Yet, he’s constantly given autonomy to control franchises for some baffling reason.
Besides his draft, which historically has always been bad, the Las Vegas Raiders are bringing back former Browns safety Karl Joseph, a player the Raiders let go of because they didn’t think he was good enough anymore. Now, all of a sudden, he is? The Raiders watched problematic Richie Incognito, who was arrested at his own father’s funeral while with the team, tear his Achilles, be released, and then re-signed. All at the age of 38.
No wonder Derek Carr is frustrated with the Raiders.
The Raiders went out and got Jason Witten, in 2020 and he retired after a bad year with the team. The Raiders are still very much running like a Gruden club. Over the hill veterans and problematic players (Bill Romanoski anyone) being allowed to dominate roster spots, while players with little talent but a lot of “skills” are given spotlight treatment. Granted, the Raiders’ offense in 2020 was in the top eight, but the Raiders’ defense (as has been a trend on this list so far) was in the bottom eight.
Expectations: Jon Gruden is going to ride this team until the wheels fall off, and after three consecutive non-winning seasons, the pressure will be on Gruden to produce. The problem is Gruden. He’s alienated his starting quarterback, drafted relatively poorly, and has made questionable free-agent signings. The Browns shouldn’t struggle with the Raiders.