The Las Vegas Raiders have had very little offensive success during the 2025 NFL season. While this has been disappointing, considering the high expectations they entered the year with after a massive offseason, they have, at least, had a handful of reasonable excuses.
In Week 1, All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers went down with an injury, which limited him for several games before he finally sat out from Weeks 5 to 7. Star left tackle Kolton Miller was also placed on IR after Week 4, which left a glaring weakness on the left side of the offensive line.
Las Vegas was also without Jakobi Meyers in Week 7, as he was dealing with injuries to his knee and toe. However, owner Mark Davis did not make Chip Kelly the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL to make excuses; he hired him to get results.
With the Jacksonville Jaguars on the docket in Week 9 after the bye, Kelly said all the right things during Thursday's press conference. But it is imperative that the Raiders' offensive coordinator keep his word on Sunday.
Raiders' OC Chip Kelly has to keep his word about offensive balance
As a result of their inability to move the ball, the Raiders have run the second-fewest offensive plays in the NFL this season, an issue that was on full display during their blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. They ran just 30 plays on offense, the second-fewest since the tracking of the stat began.
11 of those were running plays, with star rookie running back Ashton Jeanty finishing the day with just six carries. Despite these shortcomings, Kelly discussed the importance of having a balanced offensive game plan in Week 9.
"I think it's always important. I think you can't play one-sided. You can't be one-dimensional when you play football," Kelly said. "You can't throw it every down. You can't run it every down. If you do, defenses are too good... You got to be able to not let them hone in and say this is all they do on this down. You want to be balanced. If you're balanced, that's a good thing."
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While Kelly preached the importance of having a balanced attack, that was hardly the case the last time the Raiders took the field. Jeanty began the day with a carry; however, he did not touch the ball again until there was just over nine minutes left in the second quarter. Obviously, things change in the heat of games, but this has been a recurring issue in Las Vegas this season.
That formula cannot be replicated in Week 9, despite the Jaguars having a bottom-six pass defense and top-six run defense. Smith simply hasn't been good enough to consistently attack defenses through the air. Kelly must have a balanced game plan, which should feature a heavy dose of Jeanty early on. Otherwise, Sunday may be a disaster, yet again.
Jacksonville's defense began the year playing at a near elite level; however, that has not been the case over its past three games, as they have allowed 27.7 points per contest. If Kelly is able to call a strong game, there is no reason that Las Vegas shouldn't be able to put points on the board with Bowers and Meyers set to return to the lineup. Kelly is out of excuses and must stick to his word.