Mile High Report
The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the worst teams in the NFL.
After Pete Carroll was hired, there was hope in Raider Nation that Las Vegas could at least compete for a playoff spot.
Coming into Sunday’s game against the rival Denver Broncos, the Raiders are 2-10 and have already been eliminated from playoff contention. Since the franchise’s last Super Bowl appearance in 2003, this type of season is a common occurrence.
As for Sunday’s game, the Broncos head to Las Vegas as -7.5-point favorites. The total sits at over/under 40.5 points, with a lean towards the under at -118.
Given the hiring of Carroll and taking Ashton Jeanty with a first-round pick, was this kind of showing in the cards? And how much of the blame falls on owner Mark Davis?
We go “behind enemy lines” to get a feel for the Raiders heading into Sunday Night Football with Matt Holder from Silver and Black Pride to preview Sunday’s game.
Matt: Pete Carroll spent most of the offseason talking about his resume and began training camp bragging about how many times he’s won 10 games in his career. Also, while Geno Smith was never considered the long-term solution at quarterback, he was supposed to be a quality stopgap option and the best signal-caller the Raiders have had since moving on from Derek Carr three years ago. Obviously, that hasn’t happened since the team already has 10 losses and Smith is tied for the most interceptions in the NFL.
Heading into the season, I didn’t think Las Vegas would be a legitimate playoff contender, but I did think they’d fall somewhere in the seven-to-nine-win range. Instead, they’ve been uncompetitive in the majority of their contests and are clearly one of the worst teams in the league. Long story short, it’s definitely been a disappointing campaign!
Matt: It’s tough to say because I’m sure Mark Davis isn’t thrilled about the idea of paying another coach to not work for him anymore. Plus, constantly churning through head coaches is part of the reason the organization is in this position, seeing as it’s on head coach No. 4 (five if you include Rich Bisaccia’s interim stint) since moving to Sin City in 2020.
That being said, the Raiders are clearly headed toward a multi-year rebuild, and it doesn’t really make sense to do that with a head coach who will be 75 years old next September. Also, there has been a lot of finger-pointing through the media over the last few weeks, indicating that Carroll and general manager John Spytek are butting heads. Despite the team being out of contention, Carroll is being stubborn and refusing to play the rookies outside of...
