The Las Vegas Raiders emerged victorious in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season against the New England Patriots. While the offense certainly had its share of issues in that game, they were masked by the fact that the defense played well enough to pull out a 20-13 win.
New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has certainly had his moments through two games, and his halftime adjustments against the Patriots were paramount in the win. But he and the offense took a major step back in Week 2's embarrassing 20-9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at home.
Brock Bowers was definitely not at 100%, and Geno Smith made a series of erratic decisions against the Chargers. But Kelly's offense had the wrong formula from the jump, and it was obvious in how the game played out.
Raiders OC Chip Kelly needs to make serious adjustments to the offense
In Week 1, the Raiders were able to air the ball out against a set of poor coverage linebackers and a weak Patriots secondary that was missing its best cornerback. That never should have been the game plan for Week 2 against Los Angeles, as their defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, runs tons of deep zone concepts.
Essentially, the Chargers dared Las Vegas to run the ball and move downfield with short passes underneath. Given that the Raiders should have primarily been in 12 personnel with both Bowers and Michael Mayer on the field against five defensive backs, this should have been easy to accomplish.
Unfortunately, the Silver and Black mustered just 68 yards on the ground and were forced to abandon the run altogether when they got down by two scores. To make matters worse, Kelly kept dialing up deep passes despite Smith not completing a single pass of over 10 yards the entire night.
Even head coach Pete Carroll pointed out the offense's shortcomings in his postgame presser on Monday, specifically their failure to throw the ball underneath.
"We had time to hold the football, so we protected okay, and we didn't get the ball thrown underneath. That's what I wish we would have done. I wish we would have not taken those shots," Carroll said. "They looked a little like, you know, we had to score quick or something. I don't feel like that is the way that we should ever play. We got to take what's there, and we got to take a look at the film, and I got to see why that happened like that. Just surprised we haven't looked like that at all at any time. So it's the first time that came up. ... We have to stay patient, and I think it felt like we were impatient at times in this game."
This sounds like a measured criticism of both Smith and Kelly, as Carroll is essentially saying the offense played out of character in Week 2.
RELATED: Raiders' Pete Carroll steps in as NFL fans spiral over Tom Brady reports
Instead of taking what the defense gave them, Las Vegas tried to force the issue, and it backfired to the tune of three interceptions and just nine points scored. Kelly's usage of rookie running back Ashton Jeanty was also incredibly questionable, but that is a song for another time.
Both Jeanty and Jakobi Meyers said after the game that the Chargers did not do anything crazy or different than what they prepared for, but that the offense beat itself on Monday. This was certainly the case, as the Raiders' 3.35 yards per play were their lowest in a single game since 2022.
Smith took accountability in the same media availability as Carroll after the game, and he touched on the fact that the Raiders need to make a lot of adjustments on offense.
"We got to have balance, but we can pass on anybody. We know that. But it's not about what we can do in the pass game. It's about what we can do as an offense collectively," Smith said. "Again, yeah, balance is the key to anything on offense. We got to run the ball when we need to. We got to pass the ball when we need to. And we got to be efficient in both. So we'll get better at it. We'll find ways to get better at it."
Raider Nation better hope that Smith is right, because the offense looked completely disjointed against the Chargers, and Kelly looked completely devoid of solutions. He needs to utilize Jeanty more and take advantage of the talents of Bowers and Meyers in the middle of the field for the group to have success.
He also needs to have a game plan that is more tailored to the opponent that Las Vegas is playing. Because if what fans saw on Monday was the strategy going in, then the Raiders lost the game before it even began.