The Las Vegas Raiders have been a bad football team through five weeks of the 2025 NFL season. While they have shown flashes on the defensive side of the ball, ultimately, they have not been good enough to win more than a single game.
The performance on the field has been very frustrating for fans, but the lack of accountability has made matters much worse. Pete Carroll and Geno Smith have done everything to deflect blame from the veteran quarterback, even though he leads the league with nine interceptions.
Chip Kelly also lacked accountability when asked about Smith's play over the first five games. Despite the defense being the team's best unit and having three strong performances this season, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham took a different route than the rest of the Raiders' leaders.
Patrick Graham shows leadership when discussing defensive issues
The defense started the season off strong, allowing just 16.5 points per game over its first two outings. While they played much better than the final score suggests in Week 4, the unit has allowed 35.3 points per game over the past three weeks.
Graham discussed several problems they have had during his presser on Thursday, starting with the pass-rush.
"Pass rushing goes hand in hand with the coverage, so I got to do a better job of creating opportunities for the guys in terms of just tying together the coverage and the rush," Graham said. "And then it comes down to those guys working together and winning their individual battles when it comes up, whether it slides one way or the other. But really got to tie it all together a little better on my standpoint."
Las Vegas has just eight sacks this season, which is the ninth-fewest in the league. This is a major issue, as the group is underperforming, but at least the team's defensive coordinator is not pulling any punches. Graham also addressed the defense's struggles on third down.
"The thing we focus on is making less manageable third downs. You look at last week, I don't know, like five or six of them were like four (yards) or less," Graham said. "So, to me, it's me doing a better job of those second-and-10's that we're forcing and get them to be third-and-10's. So, it starts there and then putting the players in the best position to execute for what they do best."
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The Raiders have allowed their opponents to convert 45.9% of their third-down opportunities, the fifth-worst mark in the NFL. Against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5, they allowed an 80% conversion rate. Lastly, Graham discussed the defense's inability to force turnovers.
"I'm so tired -- I'm trying to be mindful of my language -- of talking about whatever it is we got to do. That's how they feel. We got to do. So, I could talk about we're doing this and that, we just got to make it happen. Got to take the ball away," Graham said. "However it happens, that's what we got to do, so that's how I'm talking to them. You can see my whole mood and demeanor changed. I'm done talking, we got to do. We're unlucky. The language I would use right now. F that. No, we got to do. It says, 'Just Win, Baby'. We just got to do it."
Las Vegas is tied for the sixth-fewest takeaways and seventh-fewest interceptions in the league. While this unit is certainly not meeting expectations, it is refreshing to hear the group's leader taking accountability instead of making excuses.
Meanwhile, the offense leads the league in interceptions thrown while ranking second in turnovers, but they won't face the issue. The combination of a turnover-prone offense and a defense that cannot force takeaways is a recipe for disaster, as Raiders fans have seen over the first five weeks.
Carroll has suggested that Smith needs more practice while also subtly blaming the play calling for the offensive struggles. Kelly denied the blame on Thursday, but he also defended the quarterback from deserved criticism.
Meanwhile, Smith has been filled with excuses, including blaming rookie Dont'e Thornton Jr. for his latest interception, and falsely claiming that six of his league-leading nine interceptions came off of passes tipped in the air.
Graham's comments not only showed signs of leadership in the face of chaos, but they also served as a breath of fresh air for a fan base that has not heard any accountability this season. Hopefully, the franchise can keep Graham around for a long time.