The Las Vegas Raiders have had a handful of promising performances during the 2025 NFL season. But, by and large, this team has been a disaster once again, and arguably worse than the Josh McDaniels or Antonio Pierce-led Raiders ever were.
Yes, Las Vegas has three losses this year by a combined five points. But they also have five other losses by a combined 110 points. They've won two games, which means that just as often as they're competing, not even winning, they are being blown out and humiliated.
Pete Carroll and his staff have done some finger-pointing this season, but they haven't exactly been holding people accountable. It's unknown exactly what goes on behind the scenes, but Raider Nation has a good indication, based on the games, that the staff feels no culpability for the team's struggles.
Maxx Crosby calls it like it is after Raiders' brutal loss to Cowboys
Fortunately or unfortunately, that means that the players on the team must be the guardians of the culture and hold others accountable. Leave it to superstar Maxx Crosby to do so, as he spoke to the media after the 33-16 primetime loss to the Dallas Cowboys and called out the 2-8 Raiders in a message that they needed to hear.
"We aren't good enough right now. There's a lot of issues, we gotta find ways to get better. Find solutions instead of just doing the same thing and expecting a different result," Crosby said. "It's football. We have 17 opportunities. You train all year-round to get 17 opportunities guaranteed. If anybody takes that for granted, that's a shame on them. You show up every day, you gotta go out there and (expletive) produce and find solutions and look yourself in the mirror and get better. That's all you can do. No one feels bad for us. You gotta win football games, and we're not doing that right now. We're not playing good football. ... We're making it really hard on ourselves when it doesn't have to be that way."
Crosby, rightfully, pulled no punches in this locker room media availability. Of course, he pointed the finger at himself and said that he needs to be better, like a true leader. He also reinstated his belief in his teammates, but these words still needed to be said.
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Whereas fans can see a high draft pick as a silver lining in a lost season like this, the players don't have that luxury. On a bad football team like the Raiders, a majority of the players are fighting for their livelihoods, and every game matters, regardless of how it affects the team's draft position.
Nobody is expecting Las Vegas to have a massive turnaround and reel off a handful of wins down the stretch of the season, especially considering their daunting schedule. But the product on the field simply has to look better for there to be any light at the end of the tunnel.
Right now, the coaching staff isn't exactly doing anything to put the team in a position to win, nor are they helping the team's future with their stubbornness when it comes to playing young players. But perhaps Crosby's message here will reverberate throughout the locker room.
If it does, then this Raiders team can kick it into high gear for the remaining seven games. Winning may be futile, but if they can find some solutions, show some promise and consistently compete, that will dramatically change the team's short and long-term outlook.