SAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Las Vegas Raiders Management have dismiss 4Raiders players for not…

“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” owner Mark Davis said in a statement released on Tuesday night.

“I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”

McDaniels becomes the first non-interim coach in the Super Bowl era to be fired by two franchises before the end of his second season.

The Raiders announced linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will take over as the interim coach. His first game will be on Sunday at home against the Giants for whom he played for from 2005-09.

Las Vegas also announced assistant general manager Champ Kelly will be the interim GM and the team will conduct searches for replacements for McDaniels and Ziegler after the season.

The Raiders are also parting with offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi, with quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree being promoted as his replacement, according to NFL Network. Las Vegas have not scored more than 19 points in a game this season.

Davis had hoped to bring New England’s success westward when he hired McDaniels, the long-time Patriots offensive coordinator.

Ziegler worked in New England’s front office, and between the former team-mates at John Carroll University, they transformed the Raiders into ‘Patriots West’ by signing several players with ties to that organisation.

But despite taking over a team that made the playoffs in 2021, before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wildcard round, the success Davis so badly wanted never made its way to Las Vegas.

The Raiders under McDaniels went 6-11 in 2022 and are 3-5 so far this season. His record when previously at Denver was 11-17.

Even so, Davis has stood by McDaniels, and the timing of this dismissal is surprising. McDaniels met with the media early on Tuesday afternoon and was scheduled for another news conference on Wednesday morning to discuss facing the Giants.

But McDaniels had some things working against him. The Raiders have failed to score at least 20 points in eight of their past nine games dating to last season, and offense is his speciality. The one game Las Vegas reached that figure came because of a fourth-quarter safety in a 21-17 victory over the Patriots on October 15.

Perhaps just as damaging was the public displeasure some of his players have shown. Star wide receiver Davante Adams, in particular, has been vocal since the off-season about his concerns regarding the direction of the franchise.

Running back Josh Jacobs when asked after Monday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions about what might spark the offense, said: “I don’t know, that ain’t my job.”

The last two weeks were particularly humbling as Las Vegas lost 30-12 to Chicago and undrafted rookie former Division II quarterback Tyson Bagent, and then looked completely inept in the 26-14 loss at Detroit on Monday night.

McDaniels finished his tenure with the third-worst record of any Raiders coach with at least 25 games.

It has also been reported Sunday’s game could see rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell take over for Jimmy Garoppolo.

O’Connell, 25, a fourth-round pick out of Purdue, started the Raiders’ Week Four road loss to the Los Angeles Chargers when Garoppolo was out with a concussion. In Week Seven, O’Connell relieved starter Brian Hoyer in a road loss to the Chicago Bears when Garoppolo was sidelined by a back injury.

O’Connell has completed 34 of 52 passes for 313 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in two games. He has been sacked seven times and has one rushing touchdown.

Garoppolo, who turns 32 on Thursday, signed a three-year $72.75m contract ($34m guaranteed) in March to replace Derek Carr as the Raiders’ franchise quarterback.

Garoppolo has thrown an NFL-high nine interceptions in six starts this season, completing 65.5 percent of his passes for 1,205 yards and seven touchdowns.