The Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the league's worst teams through five games as they are just 1-4. The offense had high expectations entering the 2025 NFL season; however, they have completely failed at living up to them.
A major reason for their lack of offensive success has been the inability to take care of the football. The Raiders rank second in the NFL with ten turnovers, while quarterback Geno Smith has thrown a league-leading nine interceptions.
The turnovers have often come at inopportune moments as well, and Smith's struggles have directly led to two of Las Vegas' losses. Not only are the Raiders turning it over frequently, but they're doing so deep in their own territory and allowing long runbacks on interceptions.
Titans head coach acknowledges turnovers are hurting a talented Raiders team
Las Vegas will host the Tennessee Titans in Week 6 in a battle of one-win teams. Tennessee is the only team in the NFL that has scored fewer points than Las Vegas while also allowing more. They have, however, been much better in the turnover department, as they have actually forced more turnovers than they have committed.
The same cannot be said for the Raiders, who have committed the second-most turnovers while ranking tied for the sixth-fewest takeaways. Titans head coach Brian Callahan discussed Las Vegas' inability to take care of the football, and his comments, as a whole, struck a nerve because of how true they were.
"While record-wise, it doesn't look great, you can see exactly why they're in the spot they're in," Callahan said. "They've had a tremendous amount of back-breaking turnovers that have put their defense in really tough spots. Teams have capitalized on that."
Turnovers have definitely been a leading factor in the Raiders' struggles, as they are a middle-of-the-pack team in both total yards gained and total yards allowed. But they are much worse when it comes to scoring offense and scoring defense, which is a direct result of turnovers.
Additionally, Las Vegas' turnovers have allowed their opponents to have the best average starting field position in the NFL, while the Raiders' average starting field position is the worst. Callahan acknowledged that, despite these turnovers, Las Vegas has a lot of the crucial pieces in place.
"When you watch just the tape alone, and you look at the scheme and the players, there's a lot of good things happening there," Callahan said. "They look like a Pete Carroll team on defense. All those traits are starting to show up. Offensively, we know Geno is a proven quarterback in this league, and when he gets hot, he's tough to deal with. They got some young players that are pretty talented."
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The fact that the Raiders have strong traits and a proven quarterback, paired with the notion that they are doing a lot of things right, makes the team's 1-4 record with three blowout losses sting even more. Callahan also shared plenty of praise for three of the Raiders' stars.
"Ashton Jeanty is starting to come on. You're starting to see his talent show up. We'll see what Brock Bowers' status is, but he's obviously a dynamic player. Maxx Crosby is probably one of the premier players in this league, so we have to have a good plan for him," Callahan said. "It felt like he almost tried to win the Chicago (Bears) game in the first half by himself. It was a remarkable performance, so he's somebody we got to be aware of, and he can certainly wreck the game."
Bowers has not practiced this week after missing the first game of his career in Week 5. The All-Pro tight end has been dealing with a knee issue since Week 1. Meanwhile, Jeanty has turned in the best two performances of his young career over the past two weeks.
While Crosby's sack numbers are down, and he is on pace for the lowest total of his career, he remains a defensive force against both the pass and the run. He leads the league in tackles for loss while leading all non-defensive backs in passes defended.
Although the matchup against the Titans may appear easy on paper, the Raiders need to show up after failing to do so last week. They will also need the entire roster, particularly Smith, to play better football.
Callahan recognized this, and while he was not criticizing the Raiders, the way he put things so simply and accurately stung for the fan base. This team has a lot of the right pieces in place and is doing some good things; they just have to stop beating themselves.