What’s wrong with the Raiders offense?

That’s a question every Raider fan has been asking (long before this season, actually) and whatever the correct answer is, the coaching staff in Las Vegas hasn’t been able to figure it out over the first half of the season.

There are obviously a lot of factors contributing to the team’s abysmal offense, and Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter authored a column this week detailing what ‘NFL people’ think of the situation.

This is what they said…

Anonymous NFL Executive:

“I know what AP wants, and he isn’t getting it. If they are making adjustments, it is almost as if they are ‘O.K., that worked, so let’s not do it again.’ They don’t pass to run when teams have shut them down, so they keep running, but when they can, they pass. No rhyme or reason. I am not in the building, but perhaps there are too many voices because they don’t seem to have a continuity of thought.  It isn’t Luke’s fault when players make dumb penalties or get hurt.  That offensive line has been beaten up.”

Anonymous NFL Executive:

“Are they running that by committee? I don’t see a lot of continuity.  Pierce says what he wants, and then they seem to make decisions that don’t correspond. He must drop the hammer and get them on the same page.”

Anonymous Quarterback:

“It makes no sense to me. I have watched two games completely and portions of others, and I can’t believe how they attack, but then they seem to be shut down when it appears they make no adjustments. The defense will adjust; you then have to adjust to their adjustments. That is just the game. I am stunned at the lack of adjustments.  This is the NFL. You are sunk if you can’t adjust. Who gives a s— if you can script the first 25 plays? If you can’t adjust, you are sunk.”

Anonymous Coach:

“Watched that game yesterday,…painful to say the least…you are not doing a good job as an OC. Vary tendencies and your run game lacks creativity.”  He finished with, “What is (Joe) Philbin contributing to this morass?”

Anonymous Coach:

“Joe Philbin is one of our league’s most intelligent NFL offensive minds. I look at that mess and tell you he needs a bigger voice. That offense doesn’t appear to have a strong sense of purpose. Gardner Minshew has done a lot of good in his career. Has anyone there seen that film and tried to implement it? I would be adjusting my offense to his strengths, but you don’t see a lot of adjustments out of them. Is it the same with Brock Bowers at Georgia and Zamir White from last year? Bowers has a lot of great numbers, but you can’t let him disappear. You have to adjust to what the defense is doing. Did White forget how to run from last season when he looked like a star? Of course not.

“As a coach, my job was described to me years ago. You are a cook. If I give you a bunch of vegetables, make a salad. Don’t try to make a dessert. You can want to do many things, but in this league, when you can’t overpower a team with your scheme, you must do what your players can. Those offensive coaches have not done what they can to set that offense up to succeed. They aren’t the most talented, but with that defense and the talent they have, 2–6 is unexplainable.”

For what it’s worth, Hondo shared his own thoughts this week, and he seems to hold offensive coordinator Luke Getsy responsible for a lot of what’s been going wrong on offense this year for the Raiders…

“I believe in [Antonio Pierce],” Hondo said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “But something has to happen to demonstrate we’re doing something to fix it. I’m not saying you should fire anybody, but something significant, if they lose tomorrow and this offense looks terrible, they have better do something quick, or it’s going to go bad to worse.”

x: @raidersbeat