The Las Vegas Raiders are spiraling. After a 31-0 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles dropped them to 2-12 on the season, questions are swirling around first-year head coach Pete Carroll and whether he’s the right man to lead a franchise deep in the throes of a rebuild.
Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty tried to quiet the noise, saying Carroll still has the locker room’s support. But behind the scenes, that support may be starting to crack.
Pressure Mounting on Pete Carroll
There’s no sugarcoating it - the Raiders have been outclassed on both sides of the ball. Their minus-167 point differential is second-worst in the league, ahead of only the equally struggling Titans.
According to team sources, this wasn’t how the season was supposed to go. Yes, expectations were tempered heading into 2025 given the roster’s clear deficiencies, but there was still hope that the team would at least be competitive.
That hasn’t happened.
One source summed it up bluntly: “It wasn’t supposed to be this bad.” And they’re right.
After a Week 6 win over those same Titans, the Raiders haven’t sniffed victory. Firing offensive coordinator Chip Kelly in November was meant to shake things up, but the offense has remained stagnant - and the coaching staff has looked out of sync ever since.
The Raiders brought in Carroll to bring stability and experience to a young, rebuilding team. Instead, they’ve looked lost.
The decision to acquire quarterback Geno Smith - a player Carroll knows well from their time together in Seattle - was a gamble that hasn’t paid off. Despite signing Smith to a two-year extension, the team is already expected to move on from him after the season.
That’s a telling sign of how far off-course things have veered.
Ownership Watching Closely
Minority owner Tom Brady isn’t happy, and who could blame him? The Raiders have been noncompetitive for most of the season, and with another top-to-bottom reset potentially looming, the franchise is inching closer to back-to-back one-and-done head coaches.
Still, there’s no final decision yet on Carroll’s future. As of now, there’s no indication that principal owner Mark Davis has been told to make a move. But the seat under Carroll is undeniably getting warmer.
What the Raiders thought they were getting with Carroll - a seasoned, steady hand - hasn’t materialized. And now, some inside the organization are wondering if they should’ve stuck with Antonio Pierce, the fiery, first-time head coach who brought energy and upside, even if the results weren’t always there.
Pierce went 4-13 in his lone full season, but he was coaching through quarterback chaos and inherited a flawed roster. The Raiders didn’t wait to see if he could grow into the role - and now they may be staring down another reset.
A Tough Road Ahead
Carroll will get another shot to right the ship this Sunday when the Raiders travel to face the 9-5 Houston Texans. But Vegas enters the matchup as heavy underdogs - 14.5 points, per DraftKings - and it’s hard to find many believers in a turnaround at this stage.
The Raiders aren’t just losing games - they’re getting blown out. And when that happens week after week, the questions about leadership only get louder. For Carroll, the next few weeks could determine whether this is just a rough first chapter in his Raiders tenure - or the end of a very short story.