Field Gulls
This one play might be the low point of Pete Carroll’s otherwise decorated coaching career.
It’s very rare to see a team up by so many points and showing so much mercy that they’re willing to kneel the ball on the plus side of the two-minute warning. That’s what happened to Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders, as Andy Reid called off the dogs late in the third quarter and coasted to a 31-0 shutout win. Any bit of ruthlessness out of Andy and it would’ve been the largest defeat of Pete Carroll’s career, which is on the heels of a 34-point road loss to the Indianapolis Colts two weeks ago.
The Raiders had three first downs. Uno, dos, tres. Geno Smith didn’t turn the ball over but without Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers, he sure as hell wasn’t actually moving the ball, finishing 10/16 for 67 yards. Ashton Jeanty had 21 rushing yards on six carries and no rushing first downs. It’s the worst showing in terms of first downs for any NFL team in nearly 20 years.
Their 95 yards of total offense is the fourth-fewest in franchise history, and coincidentally the next worst showing after that was a shutout loss to the Chiefs in 1997. Due to a series of three-and-outs (plus Kenny Pickett’s one-play fumble in his Raiders debut), the Raiders ran just 30 plays, which is historically low.
On the flip side, Carroll just became the first regular season coach to put up a goose egg against Andy Reid. It’s actually hard to fathom that Reid has coached that long without a regular season shutout win, but it happened.
If you dig a little deeper, the Raiders had no third down conversions (one of the few stats where they’ve actually been good on offense), while allowing 9/15 on third downs defensively (an area where the Raiders have been dismal). On the plus side, Jamal Adams sacked Patrick Mahomes for his first sack since 2020.
At 2-5, the Raiders are toast. They will be in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick given their very difficult remaining schedule. The New York Jets are 0-7 and will be the biggest barrier to Vegas getting the top pick again, but they legitimately have little case to be favored in any of their remaining games. Whether it’s Geno, Kenny Pickett, or Aidan O’Connell at QB, this looks like a lost cause that could get even more lost if Maxx Crosby’s injury is serious and Jakobi Meyers is traded.
The fanbase has clearly had enough.
This is a sad end to Carroll’s coaching career. The Super Bowl years with the Seahawks feel like something out of the prehistoric era. He’s coached bad teams before but never a squad this inept, and you have to wonder whether or not this level of non-competitive losing results in him leaving before there’s even a thought of a firing. This is not a quick fix and the odds of a one-year turnaround...
