The Las Vegas Raiders brought in a Super Bowl-winning head coach, a dynamic talent at running back, and a competent veteran QB this offseason in hopes of quickly changing the culture within the organization.
Unfortunately, a 1-3 start feels like more of the same in Las Vegas. Despite some signs of life on both sides of the ball, the Raiders received a rather lukewarm team grade for their performance in September.
Raiders Receive a Team Grade of C- in Pete Carroll’s First Month as Head Coach in Las Vegas
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz acknowledged the changes the Raiders made this offseason in an attempt to resurrect this dormant franchise, but was pretty underwhelmed with the overall results from this new regime in September.
“The Silver and Black opted to pursue sizable investments at both quarterback and running back to establish an immediate sense of clarity in the backfield,” wrote Middlehurst-Schwartz. Instead, the Raiders have presented two of the more prominent cases of underperformance at each spot. The common denominator seemed to be the offensive line, which repeatedly allowed for No. 6 overall pick Ashton Jeanty to be swarmed behind the line of scrimmage in the first three games while also giving up 51 pressures on Geno Smith during that same span.
Middlehurst-Schwartz makes a fair point regarding the offensive line, which mostly went unaddressed this offseason while the franchise prioritized retooling the quarterback and running back positions.
The poor performance of the offensive line was likely the main reason a dynamic running back prospect like Ashton Jeanty looked pedestrian through the first three weeks of the season.
Jeanty averaged just 3.1 yards per carry through the first three games of his NFL career. Combine that with Smith being harassed regularly when dropping back to pass and it is easy to see why this is a fair critique of the coaching staff and front office.
But even when the front stepped up considerably in a Week 4 outing against the Bears, Smith still came apart at the seams with his second three-interception game in three weeks, dooming Las Vegas to its third consecutive loss,” Middlehurst-Schwartz added. “Perhaps the team’s 240-yard rushing day, which represents a single-game high for any offense in 2025, should be taken as an indication that Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly could be putting everything together in short order.”
Are the Raiders a Team Without an Identity Entering October?
Speaking of things coming together in short order, I believe it says something about the Raiders that you can’t really identify what their identity is as a football team through the first month of the season.
Outside of scoring offense — where they rank 24th — they are middle of the road both as a passing and rushing unit with little-to-no consistency in either category.
Defensively, Maxx Crosby is a star, but there are talent concerns nearly everywhere else on this unit. They haven’t proven capable of dictating the terms against opposing offenses.
The Raiders have been competitive, but still feel like they are figuring out things a month into the season.
It helps to have a proven winner at head coach, but this team will need to figure out what its own strengths and weaknesses quickly if they hope to get in the playoff picture when December rolls around.
Pete Carroll Era Starts Off with Lukewarm Grade for September