The Las Vegas Raiders' new leadership tandem essentially promised that the team would compete right away. Unfortunately, that has not been the case, as the team sits at 2-5 headed into the bye week, and things are less encouraging than they were during last year's 4-13 campaign.
Las Vegas has been riddled with issues during the 2025 NFL season. The team has already suffered three blowout losses, culminating with a historically bad performance on Sunday, as they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-0.
The pitiful performance showed that, not only are the Raiders not ready to contend, but they are very far away from being any kind of threat in the AFC. As such, one NFL analyst painted the bleakest picture yet for Pete Carroll and the Raiders.
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The Raiders have shown flashes this year, but ultimately, they have proven that they are at least one year away from truly competing. While they hired Pete Carroll and traded for Geno Smith with the hopes that the duo would change the culture and lead them to contention, both have struggled.
To rub salt in the wound, Bleacher Report's Alex Kay recently ranked Las Vegas as the team with the third-least direction in the NFL, while also predicting that the head coach-quarterback duo will not be in their roles for long.
"Given the state of the team, it seems Carroll will soon follow in the footsteps of Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce—the team's two most recent coaches who each lasted fewer than two full seasons at the helm," Kay wrote. "If and when Carroll is relieved of his duties and Smith is removed from his starting post, the Raiders will find themselves back at square one. It's an unenviable position for a franchise to be stuck in and could take years to recover from."
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Raider Nation had hoped that Carroll and Smith would provide the stability that the franchise has lacked for over 20 years. However, things have been just as bad as ever under their watch, and a change might be needed.
While the organization cannot keep changing coaches and general managers every season, it was evident from the moment he was hired that the 74-year-old head coach was not the long-term solution.
The hope, however, was that the Super Bowl-winning head coach would be able to establish a culture while helping to re-legitimize the Raiders. Instead, the move has looked even uglier as the team has been unable to compete and has no real long-term direction, as it stands now.