Head Coach Jon Gruden Is In Some Deep S**t Ahead Of Bears Game

The Las Vegas Raiders are coming off a frustrating loss to their division rival Los Angeles Chargers last week. So this Week 5 matchup with the Chicago Bears carries some significant importance. Another loss would drop them out of 1st place in the AFC West. Not a good thing given how stacked the division is. So the last thing they needed going into Sunday was a distraction. Unfortunately, a big one dropped courtesy of their own head coach Jon Gruden. According to Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal, an email emerged from back in 2011. One where Gruden used a racial trope to describe NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith. The (at the time) former head coach called him "Dumboriss Smith" and "has lips the size of Michelin tires." There is no getting around it. That is ugly on every level. Though Gruden apologized for the remarks, the backlash has been predictable. Both the NFL and the Raiders organization spoke out denouncing the comment as disturbing and appalling.

This is not what the Raiders needed.

They're already under a ton of pressure to win this weekend. They're tied with Denver and Los Angeles for 1st in the division and the Chargers hold the tiebreaker with their win last week. Their next game will be in Denver too after facing the Bears. This is a game they have to have. Now their head coach has made it more difficult to maintain focus. Rather than fielding questions about the game, it will be about Gruden's comments. Is it a huge disadvantage? Maybe, maybe not. The bottom line is this story fundamentally shifted the focus of the entire weekend. Players now have to wrestle with the possibility that their head coach is a closet racist. Never fun when the majority of players on that team are black.

Jon Gruden isn't used to controversy

He managed to avoid it during his first coaching run in the 2000s. This is uncharted territory for him. Having a player be a distraction is one thing. Him being the distraction is quite another. It feels like one of two things are set to happen. Either the Raiders will falter on Sunday due to a lack of focus or they will rally around their coach and deliver a win. Much of that may depend on how the Bears play. Chicago comes in off a victory over Detroit in Week 3. Justin Fields is the official starter now and his talent is undeniable. While the Raiders have the better QB at present with Derek Carr, they do have legitimate concerns elsewhere on the roster. Their secondary will be down multiple cornerbacks on Sunday due to injuries and their offensive line has allowed more pressure on Carr than at any time in his career.

This bodes well for the Bears.

Their pass rush leads the NFL with 15 sacks, headlined by the duo of Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn. On offense, the combination of Darnell Mooney and Allen Robinson lit up the Lions for a big afternoon. If the offensive line can keep Fields upright against a pretty good Raiders pass rush, the chances for big plays will be there. Most expect Las Vegas to win, but those odds may have just dipped a bit. Thank Jon Gruden for that.