Silver And Black Pride
Between firing Chip Kelly and then the clear finger-pointing through the media, last week was certainly an eventful one for the lowly Las Vegas Raiders. On top of that, despite moving on from the offensive coordinator, the Raiders’ offense still struggled to score points and move the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. That’s the primary focus in the Week 14 NFL Power Rankings across the league’s media.
31. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 30
We learned one thing for sure in Week 13. Firing offensive coordinator Chip Kelly wasn’t a quick fix for the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders’ offense looked just as nonthreatening on Sunday as it did before Kelly was relieved of his duties. Most of the issues stem from a bad offensive line that can’t open holes for Ashton Jeanty or protect Geno Smith at an even average level. Unless Pete Carroll is willing to fire his own son in-season—Brennan Carroll serves as both the offensive line coach and the run-game coordinator—Las Vegas’ biggest issues aren’t going away in 2025. – Kristopher Knox
I’ll reiterate what I wrote in this week’s winners and losers column: if Pete isn’t willing to move on from Brennan at the end of the season, Mark Davis should see that as the final nail in the head coach’s coffin. It’s obvious that the offensive line has regressed this season, and the whole ‘the rookies aren’t ready to play’ schtick is an indictment of the position coach who is supposed to be developing them. Plus, it’s hard to believe that’s the truth when Caleb Rogers looked solid in his limited opportunities against the Chargers.
While moving on from Brennan at this point likely won’t yield any results for this season, Pete is kind of doing his son a disservice by keeping him around for the next five weeks. If Davis decides to fire the head coach, then Brennan is going to have fewer options in the college ranks since we’re already seeing coaching staffs take form around the country. Maybe Lane Kiffin can give Brennan a job at LSU this week, but the clock is ticking.
31. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 31
Best-case scenario: Clarity with their decision-making
The Las Vegas offense didn’t look much better without Chip Kelly calling the plays after his firing led to questions about the organizational structure. The Raiders managed just 156 yards of offense Sunday — and, amazingly, it wasn’t their lowest output of the season. — Chad Graff and Josh Kendall
For the record, Sunday was the offense’s second-lowest yardage total of the season. The only worse performance was the Week 7 shutout against the Chiefs, where the Raiders didn’t even break triple digits with 95 yards. To be clear, Kelly was part of the problem, but the trip to Los Angeles showed that Las Vegas’ issues go far beyond just one coach.
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