The Las Vegas Raiders' offense has been stagnant for much of the 2025 NFL season. Things reached their low point when they got shut out by the Kansas City Chiefs in the game before the bye, but they had a get-right showing in Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, scoring a season-high 29 points.
A short week to follow did them no favors, however, as they scored just seven points their last time out against the Patrick Surtain-less Denver Broncos defense. To make matters worse, they had the ball in Denver territory five times but could only produce seven points.
Things should be much easier this week on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys, who have trotted out one of the worst defenses in the NFL this year. However, Dallas has an ace in the hole, which will take away any advantage that the Raiders thought they had heading into the game.
Cowboys getting defensive reinforcements before clash with Raiders
Ahead of the deadline, the Cowboys traded for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who should make life difficult for an already shorthanded Las Vegas interior offensive line in his debut for America's Team. But Dallas made another strong move, trading for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
Wilson was a player whom we thought the Raiders should target, as he is an experienced veteran who is strong in coverage. Jerry Jones and Co. swooped in, however, and after the Cowboys' Week 10 bye, both he and Williams will take the field for Dallas for the first time on Monday in Las Vegas.
Suddenly, the Raiders' chances of having a dominant bounce-back performance against one of the league's worst defenses feel a bit more far-fetched. Oh, and those weren't the only defensive reinforcements that the Cowboys got over their week off.
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Star linebacker DeMarvion Overshown will make his season debut, so he and Wilson will take over for a putrid Dallas linebacker group that was previously composed of struggling players like Kenneth Murray and Jack Sanborn.
Overshown is not the only player returning from injury for the Cowboys, either. Promising rookie cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. will make his NFL debut for a struggling Dallas secondary, and veteran safety duo Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson will return to the lineup as well.
All of a sudden, the porous Cowboys defense that the league has come to know through the first nine games of this season is gone. They've been reinforced at every level, and combined with a dangerous offense, it could be tough sledding for the Raiders in primetime once again.
If Las Vegas' offense looks brutally inept once again in front of a national audience, and this time, to a defense still not remotely on Denver's level, then some even more serious questions will be raised about what the Raiders' plan is. Some changes could even be made as well.