The Las Vegas Raiders’ latest loss did more than drop them to 3-4. It shoved the problems into full view.
Sunday’s defeat came against a battered Rams team, and the result was another ugly one in a stretch that has already gone sideways fast. The Raiders have now lost four straight, and the conversation naturally starts with the defense, where the numbers have turned brutal. Las Vegas has given up at least 30 points in each of its last four games.
That doesn’t all land on defensive coordinator Rob Leonard. The Raiders are young on that side of the ball, and outside of Maxx Crosby, they do not have much star power.
They’ve also spent the last month running into some of the league’s top offenses. But some of this is on coaching, too, and Sunday made that hard to ignore.
Tackling has become a real issue. The Raiders have spent too much time chasing turnovers and not enough time simply finishing the play by getting the ball carrier to the ground.
There was also a clear schematic problem against the Rams. Las Vegas sat in its base defense with three linebackers for much of the afternoon to deal with Los Angeles’ 13 personnel.
That made sense in one respect, since the Raiders were already having trouble stopping the run in that look. The problem was what came next: there didn’t seem to be any workable answer for the tight ends in the passing game.
The defense looked uncomfortable living in base so often, and its rules never seemed fully sorted out.
There was at least one encouraging note on that side, though.
Eric Stokes continues to look like a corner who can change how a defense feels. He may not pile up highlight-reel moments, but he is developing into a legitimate shutdown presence.
He probably should have been matched up with Puka Nacua throughout the game. Instead, much of Nacua’s damage came when he was lined up against Darien Porter Jr.
For someone who has been skeptical of Stokes in the past, the evidence is hard to deny now. He is not just some filler piece, as the kids say, “an NPC.”
He can take away top receivers. The issue is what comes next: the Raiders still need a better partner on the other side.
And then there’s the offense, where the front five remains a major problem.
The line may be coached better than it was a year ago, but the personnel is still holding the whole thing back. Protection has been merely average, and it gets shaky once the heat starts coming.
The run game is the bigger disaster. Too often, there is simply no movement at the point of attack, and the Raiders cannot consistently create space on the ground.
Inside, center Tyler Linderbaum has been an upgrade over Jordan Meredith, but he has not played up to the size of his contract. The guard play around him has been rough, and no answer has worked from Spencer Burford, Caleb Rogers and Jackson Powers-Johnson. At some point, rookie Trey Zuhn III may deserve a shot.
On the edges, Kolton Miller is still serviceable at left tackle, but he is plainly trending the wrong way. DJ Glaze, meanwhile, looks like a replacement-level starter, which says more about how thin offensive tackle play is around the league than it does about the Raiders’ situation. Even so, the outlook up front is bleak enough that there is a real possibility all five starters could be gone within the next three years.
In Other News...
Raiders O-Line Problem May Force A Decision They Can't Delay
The Raiders offensive line has become one of the teams biggest pressure points, and the concern is centered inside. Spencer Burford and Caleb Rogers have both struggled by Pro Football Focus grades, while D.J. Glaze has been the steadiest presence up front this season. When an offensive line starts wobbling on the interior, it usually forces the coaching staff to consider changes quickly, whether that means shuffling roles or looking for a different combination.
Caleb Rogers is now squarely in the conversation as a possible benching candidate, and the Raiders may not have the luxury of waiting long to see if things sort themselves out. The front office is also being linked to a potential move for help, which would add another layer to a situation already demanding attention before the deadline. For a team trying to stabilize its offense, the next decision along the line could end up mattering as much as any move it makes this fall. [Read more 🡒]
Maxx Crosbys Recent Dip Is Becoming A Real Raiders Problem
Maxx Crosby has been central to the Raiders defensive identity for years, so when his pressure starts to dry up, it is impossible not to notice. Over the last three weeks, his impact has looked quieter than it did earlier in the season, when he was still getting home and disrupting quarterbacks at a steadier clip. For a team that leans on him to set the tone up front, that kind of drop-off is more than a blip.
The bigger concern is how much he has been on the field while the production has tailed off. The Raiders had tried to manage his workload earlier in the year, a move that seemed aimed at keeping him fresh for the stretch run, but that approach has changed lately. If the recent trend continues, Las Vegas may have to revisit whether more snaps are really helping its best pass rusher, or wearing him down when the defense can least afford it. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Trade Buzz Raises A Risky Question During This Skid
The Raiders four-game slide has turned a promising 3-0 start into a much shakier picture, even with the season still alive in the playoff race. In that kind of stretch, every roster weakness gets magnified, and the wide receiver group is already getting attention as Las Vegas looks for ways to steady the offense before the standings start closing in.
One name now surfacing in the rumor mill is Brian Thomas Jr., the Jaguars wideout who has seen his numbers dip from the big rookie year he put together in 2023. For the Raiders, the appeal is obvious enough, but so is the risk: a team trying to stay in the hunt has to decide how much it wants to pay for help at a position that could use a lift, especially when the fit and the cost are still very much up in the air. [Read more 🡒]