By No Means are Raiders Players Done With Dumping All Over Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler

Patrick Smith. Getty Images.

It's stating the obvious to point out the Ravens struggles yesterday. The league's fourth highest scoring team managed only 10 points. The number one rushing team (by far) only had 16 attempts for 81 yards. 

With that, it's likely that only the most hardcore Ravens fan or expert on offensive line play paid much attention to the interior of their line. I know I didn't. Other than recognizing Lamar Jackson was running for his life on most of his dropbacks, there wasn't much to look at on the inside. So I never noticed John Simpson, despite the fact he played all 58 snaps. 

But someone who did pay attention to Simpson is very much an expert on offensive line play, his teammate on the 2022 Raiders Jermaine Eluemunor. Simpson was cut by Las Vegas in the middle of last season. He then signed with Baltimore, started all 18 games, led the Ravens in total snaps, finished 10th among all guards in the league, and finished in the top half of the league in Pro Football Focus blocking grade at his position. So while he wasn't perfection (he led all guards with 11 penalties), it's still not a bad redemption story.

So while watching his former linemate play for the AFC championship, Eluemunor wasn't about to pass on the opportunity to dunk on Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler:

Or to double down on a reply to his post with the international symbol for contempt and disrespect, the Puke Face emoji:

The point of this being that the Raiders are not over the McDaniels/Ziegler regime. Not by a long shot. They got shown the door by Mark Davis' building security on Halloween night. That's almost three months ago. And it's clear that most people who worked for them still have issues to work through. They're like someone who was part of an abusive relationship, and are struggling to come to terms with it. If they ever can. By all accounts it would appear that Antonio Pierce was exactly the rebound coach they needed in order to feel good about themselves again. But it's going to take time and a lot of healing to move on from the toxic marriage they were trapped in. 

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All of which is something to keep in mind as McDaniels and Ziegler try to reboot their careers. Both were loyal employees in New England. For two tours of duty, in McDaniels' case. And both have been rumored to be under consideration for getting rehired. Possibly even in their old roles. But to do so comes with grave risk. 

It's hard to achieve reputations this bad. Where your former players won't stop finding opportunities to take verbal dumps on your head and can't look at a GIF of you without upchucking in cartoon form. And with the Patriots facing their most important offseason in literal decades, with draft picks to knock out of the park and mountain ranges of salary cap money to spend over the next two years, bringing back two men who are so reviled is an idea fraught with peril. No matter how good McDaniels might have been at working with rookie Mac Jones or which signings of Ziegler's worked out. 

As a Patriots fan, I'm sorry these two have become pariahs around the league. Truly, I am. But more than that, I'm happy that is not our problem. Jermaine Eluemunor has spoken. I'm listening to him.