LAS VEGAS — We should be used to it by now.
The Raiders are no-shows. So are most of their fans. They do some things right on both sides of the ball, but not enough to win the game. Ultimately, they’ll cement their spot at the bottom of the AFC West and continue to position themselves for a shot at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
You want the script to change? Not at this point. Maybe they’ll beat the Browns this coming Sunday. Perhaps they could beat the Giants right after Christmas. But that’s about the extent of what success the Raiders can muster the rest of what has been a most disappointing season to date.
At 2-8 following Monday night’s 33-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at Allegiant Stadium along with a national television audience on ESPN, there’s little patience left among those fans who still believe, who bleed Silver and Black regardless of the record. And honestly, there weren’t a whole lot of them inside Allegiant as the Cowboys and their fans took over the place. The Whataburger shop on the Las Vegas Strip would’ve been wise to try and open a pop-up store or park a food truck on Polaris Avenue. It probably did record business anyway with all the Dallas folks who were in town.
For those Raider Nation patrons who have a sense of realism running through their veins, it’s a lot of frustration, anger and misery. Blame? You can start with owner Mark Davis, who so far has failed to get it right when it comes to hiring the right football people to run things. John Spytek, the current general manager who constructed this roster, has to bear some responsibility.
And of course, there’s Pete Carroll, the 74-year-old head coach of the Raiders who returned to the sidelines only to find that magic touch he had at USC and for most of time with the Seattle Seahawks, has eluded him thus far in Las Vegas. He might as well be a tourist from Iowa trying to win at $2 blackjack downtown only to tap out on his first night.
Carroll’s frustration was evident the other day when he took just four questions during one of his media availabilities at the team’s training facility. It lasted all of 90 seconds and he was outta there. Granted, there wasn’t a whole lot to talk about at that point, but still …
Monday, Carroll was also brief in his postgame remarks.
Obviously it’s disappointing we didn’t defend better,” he said after the Raiders allowed Dak Prescott to throw for 267 yards and four TDs.
The Geno Smith marriage hasn’t worked out. He was sacked four times by the Cowboys and his 42 pass attempts yielded just 209 yards, a TD and an interception.
Ashton Jeanty, the team’s first-round draft pick at No. 6 overall who was supposed to be the Raiders’ superstar running back of the future, still seems stuck in first gear most of the time. Monday, he had just six carries and gained seven yards. He did have six receptions for 27 yards. He was hardly a threat to the Dallas defense.
With his team playing from behind most of the night, Carroll didn’t have the luxury to run the ball a ton.
“I’m not trying to please people,” he said. “I’m trying to move the football.”
If you’re a player who’s unhappy living and playing in Las Vegas — we see you Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers — you get to leave. If you’re Maxx Crosby and you’ve stayed out of loyalty to the organization and the community which has embraced you and loved you like its eldest son, you’ve learned you can’t do it by yourself, injured or not.
Carroll fired his special teams coordinator a couple of weeks ago. Chip Kelly, his offensive coordinator, is probably on thin ice. Maybe defensive coordinator Patrick Graham too. With the Raiders, you never know.
To his credit, Carroll is accepting responsibility for the Raiders’ 2-8 record.
“This is my football team,” he said. “I take accountability.”
There was so much optimism heading into the season. Even the losing preseason was sloughed off as a matter of everyone trying to get on the same page and the guys who were going to do the heavy lifting being spoon-fed minutes to prepare for Week 1 against the Patriots.
And what did the Raiders do in that first game in Foxboro? They played one of their best games of the year, beat the Pats, who currently sit atop the AFC East and there was optimism flowing like fine wine throughout Raider Nation.
Of course, we know what happened in the following weeks. The four straight losses, including blowout beatdowns at Washington and Indianapolis which were sandwiched by the heartbreaking one-point loss to the Bears at home. There was the shutout loss at Kansas City to what appears to be a suddenly mortal Chiefs team followed by the overtime loss to Jacksonville when Smith couldn’t connect with Tyler Lockett in the end zone on a 2-point try.
Add it all up and you’ve got quite a mess on your hands if you’re Davis, Spytek, and if you want to throw Tom Brady, the minority team owner into the soup, fine.
The big question, and only question that is pertinent at this moment is “How do you fix it?”
It’s more than finding a quarterback to replace Smith. You need to rebuild your offensive line. You need to rethink how you defend, both up front and at linebacker. Do you consider moving on from Crosby in order to get more pieces that will eventually anchor your defense?
Some would like to see yet another coaching change. I’ve said it on more than one occasion — you need continuity. You can’t continue to have a revolving door. But at some point, you’ve got to get it right.
Monday, the Raiders didn’t quit on their coach. They were still trying, even down 31-9 in the third quarter. And as admirable a trait as that is, this is still a results-driven league. At some point, you’ve got to win.
Again, I go back to the general manager. He is the most important person in the organization. He’s responsible for constructing the roster, which means running the draft, making the right moves in free agency, coming up with the trades that ultimately result in winning football.
Spytek has been here 10-plus months. He has gotten to know Davis. He already knew Brady from their days at Michigan. I don’t believe he and Carroll have an adversarial relationship. So if all that is the case, it’s on him to get this right. He and Carroll have to be on the same page when it comes to personnel decisions and make sure going forward they get the right guys in the right spots and develop some depth throughout the roster.
Whether or not Spytek can, we’ll find out in the coming months, assuming Davis doesn’t can him at season’s end and hire yet another GM. He’s had his scouts out in the field watching college games and he’s reading their reports. They’ll start putting their draft board together at some point if they haven’t already got a preliminary list of players they’re focusing on.
But to continue to ask this fan base and this community for patience, well, that’s a big ask at this point. Maybe too big.
