Silver And Black Pride
There’s no sugar coating it: The Las Vegas Raiders’ inaugural season of the Pete Carroll and John Spytek era is atrocious.
Normally, a head coach and general manager are given both leeway and a mulligan in Year 1. And this should’ve been the case with Carroll and Spytek in their respective roles as head honcho and GM. But a steadfast Carroll torpedoed that with a boisterous proclamation back in late July which was a paradigm shift for expectations.
“We are going to win a bunch of games,” Carroll said then. “I can’t even imagine anything else. I’ve been winning 10 games a year for 20 years or something. I mean, what are my expectations? We are going to win a bunch, and I don’t care who hears that.
“It ain’t about what anybody hears. It’s about what we do, and so that’s why expectations are really high. The standards need to be so that the expectations can be met. We’ll see what happens.”
Well, we’ve seen alright.
The Silver & Black are 2-11 through 13 games and are currently riding a seven-game plunge. Five of the Raiders’ defeats this season are the double-digit variety. The team’s last victory arrived nearly two months ago — October 12, a 20-10 win over the Tennessee Titans. What’s bewildering beyond the losing skids (four straight after Week 1 and the current seven-game slide) is this is a Las Vegas squad that went on the road in the season opener and beat the New England Patriots 20-13.
Kudos to Carroll for being confident and that Week 1 win made it appear his Raiders could win a bunch of ball games. But looks can be deceiving.
There’s no identity for this rendition of the Raiders. That is, unless you considered dazed and confused one. Carroll and his coaching staff combined with player development and execution has been amiss for much of the 2025 campaign. The dismissals of special teams coordinator Tom McMahon and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly provided talking points but both special teams and offense continue to be a hot mess.
Then there’s much-maligned offensive line coach and run game coordinator Brennan Carroll, the son of the head coach. Was I surprised the elder Carroll filled his staff with his kiddos? No. What did shock me was Carroll not going to the former Raiders coach well — like he did with quarterbacks coach and now interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson — and hire another familiar face in Tom Cable.
That all said, though, the Raiders are not without bright spots even in a lost 2025 campaign.
What more needs to be said about tight end Brock Bowers?
The 22-year-old (23 this Saturday) leads the Raiders air attack with 53 receptions for 619 yards and six touchdowns in the 10 games he’s played (six starts). All this while his effectiveness and production was dampened by a knee injury.
Through 13 games in his rookie seasons (interestingly enough, the 2024 and...
