The Las Vegas Raiders finally confirmed that backup quarterback Kenny Pickett will be starting on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles as the Raiders try to break their seven-game losing streak in Philadelphia.
The most surprising thing about this decision is how long it took to make it. Geno Smith has an injured right shoulder, and he’s taken a beating throughout the season, but coach Pete Carroll clung to the possibility that Smith could still start when many of his contemporaries would have shut down Smith for good weeks ago.
It’s not hard to figure out why this has happened. Carroll is coaching for his job, at least in his own mind, and he’s still trying to sell the possibility that he can win games based on the culture he’s installed.
Meanwhile, reality continues unabated, and it tells a very different story. The line around the rest of the league and among the fan base is that the Raiders have been an unmitigated disaster, and the responsibility lands on Carroll.
He’s already fired two coordinators trying to dodge this responsibility, but it’s only a matter of weeks before Carroll gets the axe. If owner Mark Davis doesn’t fire Carroll on Black Monday as soon as the season ends, then Raiders fans will know this whole situation has been way beyond bad.
As for Pickett, he’s being thrown to the wolves against the Eagles, although the return of Kolton Miller may help the offensive line to some extent. Even worse, the Eagles know a lot of Pickett’s tendencies, and they’re fresh because he was Philadelphia’s backup quarterback last year.
"He's been actively taking charge when he gets the opportunities in practice, and we put him in a lot of competitive situations to try to force him to the front," Carroll said in a piece written by Ryan McFadden of ESPN. "... He's as ready as a guy can be that hasn't done much playing."
Translated, that means Pickett is being thrown to the wolves, and the Eagles are going to be out for blood. They’re riding a three-game losing streak, which has opened the door for their archival, the Dallas Cowboys, to get back in the division title race. Philadelphia did this last year, too, but when they turned things around they went on a devastating run that led all the way to the Super Bowl and that final thrashing of the Kansas City Chiefs.