The Las Vegas Raiders' offensive showing against the Dallas Cowboys once again called into question the efficacy of those in charge. Sure, they're dealing with a handful of key injuries on the offensive line, but other teams are currently doing a lot more with a lot less.
Chip Kelly's play-calling and usage of stars like Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers have come under fire during the 2025 NFL season. But Monday's loss to the Cowboys proved that even against some of the worst defenses in the league, this unit is completely out of answers, despite having talent.
Las Vegas didn't abandon the run in this game like they usually do, but only because they never attempted to establish it in the first place. Granted, the strategy of trying to keep Geno Smith clean by relying on heavy play-action worked early in the contest. Until it didn't. Then, the Raiders were stuck.
Pete Carroll and Geno Smith's blame-taking shouldn't absolve Chip Kelly
While fans were busy blaming Kelly for his complete lack of run-pass balance, and rightfully so, both Carroll and Smith attempted to fall on the sword in their post-game media availability. But this was pointless, as Raider Nation knows that there is enough blame for the three of them.
"It wasn't 31 drop-backs. It was a bunch of play-action passes, and I really wanted to see us do that. There's only one person to look at, that's me, because I was influencing the game plan," Carroll said. "I don't really care about pleasing people with our run-pass mix. I'm trying to move the football."
Carroll has said all year that he wants the offense to run the ball more and that the unit needs to improve in the scoring department. But this is the first time that he admitted to taking matters into his own hands and influencing the game plan.
Obviously, this was to no avail, as the Las Vegas offense scored just 16 points against one of the worst scoring defenses in the NFL this season. Yes, the Cowboys got reinforcements at the trade deadline and during their bye week, but it was still an incredibly poor outing for the Raiders.
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Fans have condemned Smith all season as well, and also for good reason. The veteran quarterback hasn't performed up to snuff, and most of the time, he has lacked accountability. But on Monday after the game, he took a second to defend Kelly when asked about his liberty to call audibles.
"You can check into any play at any time, but would that be the right thing to do? Would you just go off script and just start calling your own plays? I don't think that's the right way to go about it," Smith said. "I think the right thing to do is to do what we practice and what we were coached to do. Like I said, the plays were there. I don't think there was any issue with the play calling. The plays were there; guys were open."
The rapport and trust between a quarterback and his coordinator need to be strong, so in an ideal world, Smith is right. But the play-calling hasn't been effective, nor has his performance, so something has to give. Clearly, the way they've practiced and prepared is not getting the job done.
Smith then finished up answering the question about the offense's ineptitude with a statement that didn't quite land the way he seemingly hoped it would. Whereas, on the surface, it seems like he is taking accountability, it seems a bit insincere when he references non-football examples.
"You guys watch the film. I know we got a lot of 'Monday morning quarterbacks' who like to watch film and take screenshots and see where guys are open. So, I'm sure you guys will see where the guys were open," Smith said. "For me, again, I just got to play better. And I keep saying this, man. If something don't look right out there, blame it on me. If it don't look right, blame it on me. That's all you can do. Blame it on me. If your kids mess up at school? Blame it on me. Car breaks down going to work? Blame it on me."
At the end of the day, the offense, and truly, the entire operation in Las Vegas, has been bad enough that cleaning house should not be out of the question. While these three are attempting to take the flak for the unit's failures, fans just want positive results. These three have not provided any this year.
No matter how Carroll, Smith and Kelly divvy up the blame each week, there is enough criticism to go around, and probably enough so that at least one of them isn't in Las Vegas next year. Kelly figures to be the first one on the chopping block, even if he wasn't blamed for the latest offensive catastrophe.