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Things didn’t quite go to plan for the Las Vegas Raiders during their preseason opener Thursday night. The Raiders visited the Seattle Seahawks, head coach Pete Carroll’s former team. Although the game ended in a 23-23 tie, there was still a lot of areas that Las Vegas need to work on moving forward. Backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell spoke about his own performance during the matchup, and it was clear he was disappointed as he shared his thoughts with the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore.
“It’s frustrating because I thought I’ve been having a good camp and I was disappointed in how I played tonight,” O’Connell said to the press postgame, including Bonsignore. “Obviously, can’t turn the ball over and just have to stay ahead of the sticks to help the team out.”
The Raiders will play two more NFC West teams during the preseason, including the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. Next Saturday, San Francisco will visit Las Vegas for the Raiders’ lone home game before the regular season starts. Although O’Connell threw for 205 yards and a touchdown, the two interceptions he threw proved a bit costly. Seattle didn’t score after the first takeaway but capitalized on the second with a field goal. Mistakes like these are what Carroll and his staff will try to correct moving forward. Can Las Vegas take a step forward during their new head coach’s first season at the helm?
That is certainly the hope for not only the organization, but its fans as well. Former head coaches Jon Gruden, Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce have all left the team under disappointing circumstances since its move to Vegas. Now, Raiders owner Mark Davis hopes that Carroll and new GM John Spytek, as well as the knowledge of minority owner Tom Brady, helps the franchise get back to the winning ways of its past.
Carroll and Spytek brought in quite a few new pieces, such as starting quarterback Geno Smith and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. While Smith only played in one series that ended in a punt, it was a chance for fans to see how the starting offense will look once Week 1 rolls around. With a tough slate ahead of them, improvement in 2025 will mean that the Raiders organization is back on the right track.
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