Raiders OC Addresses His Responsibility in Offense’s Failures
California, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) scrambles away from Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) in the second half at SoFi Stadium.
Through the season’s first seven games, the Las Vegas Raiders offense has the third-fewest rushing yards of any team in the National Football League. The unit averages the seventh-fewest yards per game and the eighth-fewest points per game, and it leads the league in turnovers.
There is plenty of blame to go around for a 2-5 Raiders team that has failed to even come close to the expectations they had entering the season. While injuries and their best player on offense missing time and demanding a trade undoubtedly played a part in the unit’s failures, so has Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy. He recently analyzed what has gone wrong for the Raiders’ offense.
“It’s all of our [faults],” Getsy said. “It’s a team effort, and I really believe that. And I think the inconsistencies are dissipating. I really do. I think every week it just gets a little bit better and better. I think the mindset, the understanding of what the objective is, is getting clearer each and every week, and running the football alleviates a lot of those issues.
“Whether you’re trying to spread it around or like we’re having the issue with turning the ball over, right? So all of that goes into play, and I think that’s a part of it. And I think you just have to stick with you believe in what you’re doing. You stick with the plan. You keep making sure you’re driving the objective of making sure all 11 on the field are on the same page all the time. And that’s really the answer.”
While Getsy is correct, football is the ultimate team game. So, the blame does fall on the whole team. Or, in this case, the whole offense. Howevermust realize that as much as it is on the players, it is arguably more on him, whether fair or unfair. It is his offense that the team is running, and he had essentially the entire offseason to prepare and has also done some things incorrectly.
Calling three consecutive passing plays with a turnover-prone quarterback, less than five yards away from scoring a touchdown, against the worst team in the NFL against the run is not a player issue. It is a coaching issue. Watching the starting running back account for over half the yards on an opening double-digit drive that went 70 yards for a touchdown, then substituting that running back out on the very next drive is not a player issue. It is a coaching issue.