Silver And Black Pride
The bye halted the Las Vegas Raiders’ slide down the NFL Power Rankings heading into Week 9. This round of the rankings is an interesting one, too, because each outlet had a different theme, allowing us to touch on several topics and gain multiple perspectives on the Raiders’ campaign.
29. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 29
Best offseason addition: CB Eric Stokes
Stokes, who signed a one-year deal with Las Vegas in the offseason, has been fairly solid as a starter. In 221 coverage snaps, Stokes has allowed 11 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown on 21 targets. He has given up a passer rating of 93.6 and a completion rate of 52.4%. “He’s just a steady player… Very athletic [and] smart,” Raiders defensive backs coach Joe Woods said. “He hasn’t made a lot of plays on the ball because there haven’t been a lot of opportunities coming his way. But at the same time, he hasn’t given up a lot of plays.” — Ryan McFadden
I’d argue that Ashton Jeanty has been the Raiders’ best offseason addition, but I can agree that Stokes is up there and has been solid this year. Granted, that’s not saying much. The free-agent signing is benefiting from playing with a linebacker corps that struggles in coverage and on the opposite side of a corner who has given up the second-most receiving yards at the position, per Pro Football Focus, in my opinion.
28. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 28
Something scary: The offensive collapse
It may be unfair to call it a collapse because the offense never actually was good. It was just supposed to be something, and that something wasn’t really, really bad. The Raiders are scoring on just 28 percent of their drives, which ranks 31st in the league, and have 10 touchdowns, which ranks next to last. Geno Smith has 10 interceptions and only seven touchdowns, and the running game is the worst in the league as measured by EPA (minus-41.47). Brock Bowers missing three games hasn’t helped, either. — Josh Kendall and Chad Graff
The Athletic is leaning into the Halloween theme here, and Las Vegas’ offense has certainly been freighting over the last couple of months. In addition to the numbers above, the Raiders averaged 1.7 touchdowns per game last year and are at 1.4 so far in 2025, per TeamRankings. So, the offense is slightly worse than last season’s abysmal performance.
27. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 29
I don’t think the Tyler Lockett signing makes the Raiders any more interesting, but with games against the Cowboys, Browns and Jaguars upcoming, I think we’ll see whether or not Pete Carroll and his staff can carve out a longer-term opportunity in Las Vegas. Remember, it is believed that Carroll signed a shorter-than-normal coaching contract that can be more easily moved...
