Dawgs By Nature
This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns are on the road as they take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12. To help preview a few topics from the Raiders’ perspective, we reached out to Matt Holder from Silver and Black Pride and exchanged five questions with him.
Chris: “What are fans’ thoughts on Pete Carroll and Geno Smith? Could they be one and done?”
Matt: “The fanbase is pretty upset because Carroll talked about how much of a winner he is all offseason, only for the team to look just as bad, if not worse than it did last year. On a similar note, Smith has quickly gone from a good bridge-gap option to one of the most frustrating players for the fanbase. Leading the league in interceptions while not providing the high-end throws he has in the past will do that. It’s obvious he’s feeling the heat, sarcastically saying that people can blame everything bad in their lives on him after last week’s loss.
There’s a realistic chance that those two are one and done. I think that if Carroll gets fired, Geno will be gone too, and the only thing saving them is the fact that the organization has had so much turnover at the head coach and quarterback positions over the last five years. Neither of their performances this season has given Raider Nation reason to believe they’ll be better next year. ”
Chris: “What do you view as the Raiders’ biggest weakness right now?”
Matt: “Honestly, the team has so many issues that it’s hard to pin one down as the biggest weakness. I guess I could point to the quarterback since that’s the most important position on the field and, as mentioned above, Smith is playing terribly. But Las Vegas also has an awful offensive line–especially with starters Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson on injured reserve–a lack of talent on defense outside of Maxx Crosby, and the team is poorly coached. I mentioned that Carroll has done a bad job, but coordinators Chip Kelly and Patrick Graham should also be on the hot seat.
At the end of the day, the Raiders are a dysfunctional organization, and we got another example of that this week. The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov reported earlier this week that there’s a disconnect between the front office and coaching staff, where general manager John Spytek wants to see the young guys on the roster get more playing time while Carroll is hellbent on playing veterans to win games. Then, a source told The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen that rookie offensive linemen Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant (both third-round picks who have combined to play one snap this season) aren’t good enough to see the field yet.
So, there’s a lot of finger-pointing going around as it’s C.Y.A. season in Las Vegas.”
Chris: “Besides RB Ashton Jeanty, which of the Raiders’ 2025 draft picks has been the most regular contributor thus far?”
Matt: “Good question. This ties into my...
