There are no words to describe the Las Vegas Raiders' 2025 NFL season in a way that is both kind and honest. Pete Carroll was brought in to raise the floor of this team and turn the franchise around, but that hasn't exactly panned out.
In fact, the opposite has been true. The floor of the Raiders might very well be the worst team in the league, and instead of turning them around, Carroll has marched them several steps in the direction they were already going, which was the wrong way to begin with.
To make matters worse, things seem to be falling apart in Las Vegas. Geno Smith's NSFW gesture at Raiders fans was the most obvious indication that the sky is falling, but there are several more videos and reports that substantiate this unfortunate but all-too-familiar notion.
Pete Carroll's Raiders are clearly falling apart after Browns loss
During Week 12's loss to the lowly Cleveland Browns, there were several points in the game where fans felt that the team's effort looked questionable. That is a hard thing to diagnose, and impossible to prove, but that hasn't stopped fans and writers from making some accusations.
Some are accusing veteran linebacker Devin White of a lack of effort, as evidenced by this video. Others are pointing out that he was jogging on the Browns' 66-yard screen pass that went all the way for a touchdown on Sunday.
Granted, White plays every snap for the Raiders' defense, so he may run out of gas at certain points. But these videos are damning, to say the least, and it is a bad thing that fans are perceiving things this way. Such accusations would never be made about a player like Maxx Crosby.
Speaking of Crosby, another fan captured this video of Crosby and linebacker Elandon Roberts arguing on the sidelines after one of Cleveland's rushing touchdowns from the wildcat formation. Obviously, these kinds of disagreements happen, and healthy conversation is a good thing.
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But this exchange seemed far from friendly, and the fact that it occurred with Las Vegas trailing in the game, where emotions are heightened, begs the question of how together this unit is. Crosby, of course, explained away this dispute, and his points are valid. But it still wasn't a great look.
Rookie guard Caleb Rogers has also been at the center of the Raider Nation's attention as the saga of his not playing wears on. After two interior offensive linemen got hurt on Sunday, and Rogers still didn't go in, radio announcer Jason Horowitz reported this:
"When Jordan Meredith went down in the fourth quarter, and they had already pulled Will Putnam from the game because he was really ineffective at center, they put in Alex Cappa, who I think has never taken a snap at center until [Sunday]. Caleb Rogers was doing some warm-ups on the sideline. He thought he was going in," Horowitz said. "They put Will Putnam back in the game when Jordan Meredith got hurt, and they moved Cappa to right guard, and Putnam went back in at center. Kirk (Morrison) and I talked about it on the broadcast, and I know the people who cover this team are going to ask Pete Carroll about it. He was visibly frustrated. Caleb Rogers was visibly frustrated. The entire team was to the right of the 50(-yard line) where the play was. He walked down the sideline and was consoled by a couple other people on the other 40 and then turned and watched the play."
This might be the worst indictment of how things are going. Senseless decision-making when it comes to personnel not only hurts the product on the field and does not help the Raiders win, but it also frustrates the players and ruins the confidence of the team's rookies.
Between the speculation about White's lack of effort, Crosby's spirited argument with Roberts, and Rogers being distraught on the sideline thanks to another questionable coaching decision, it seems like things are falling apart in Las Vegas under Carroll with no end in sight.