The Las Vegas Raiders have been far from a good football team during the 2025 NFL season. The offense has coughed the ball up far too often, the defense has been too inconsistent, and the special teams unit has already endured enough blunders for an entire year.
While some bumps in the road were expected for the offense as they learned under Chip Kelly and the defense as Pete Carroll and Patrick Graham melded their two styles and philosophies together, Tom McMahon and his special teams crew had no built-in excuses.
Still, they were an active detriment through the first five weeks of the year, and some of their poor performances really flipped games on their head. In fact, one could argue that the Raiders are sitting at 3-3 right now if not for an epic special teams blunder in Week 4 against the Chicago Bears.
Tom McMahon's special teams unit bounced back for Raiders in Week 6
Obviously, Daniel Carlson's game-winning field goal being blocked was the most obvious example of the unit's shortcomings. But they also gave up two major returns in Week 3, one kick and one punt, the latter being returned for a touchdown, and had an all-out bad outing in Week 5.
After last week's rough showing against the Indianapolis Colts, which included a key penalty, allowing a blocked punt that got A.J. Cole hurt, and a Colts kickoff return for a touchdown that was negated by an inconsequential penalty, Raider Nation was ready to part ways with McMahon.
In Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, however, the unit made a strong recovery. This meant even more going against legendary special teams coordinator John Fassel and a strong unit coming in from Tennessee.
Not only did the special teams group have no major errors, but they kept the Titans' Chimere Dike, who was averaging nearly 27 yards per kick return, to just 66 total yards on three returns, good for an average of 22. Cole also punted four times and pinned Tennessee inside their 20-yard line on all four.
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Daniel Carlson made both of his field goal attempts without issue, including a 50-yarder, and Alex Bachman provided a jolt in the punt return column, as he ran back three punts for 47 yards, which featured returns of 25 and 18 yards.
Carroll clearly agreed with this sentiment, as he quickly made note of the unit's strong play during his postgame press conference on Sunday.
"First thing I started with: special teams came through, played their game all the way throughout. (They) really controlled the field well," Carroll said. "AJ did a great job punting the ball today when we needed to, and guys covered really well. And no big issues across the board. I was really, really proud of that one (because) that gets us a chance to play regular football, and so that's a good start.
The kick return game could certainly still use a boost, but this dramatic turnaround from Week 5 to Week 6 showed that McMahon is not done imparting his wisdom on the Raiders' special teams unit. In fact, this strong showing may have saved him his job, at least for now.