Blame Game: What’s Behind the Raiders’ Latest Struggles?

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders are struggling in many areas, indicative of the disastrous 1-4 record on the season.

Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast examines what has gone wrong with the Silver and Black in 2025, who is responsible, and, more importantly, why this is happening.

You can watch the entire podcast below:

Pete Carroll, Tom Brady, John Spytek, and ultimately Mark Davis will have a lot of serious questions to address should the Silver and Black inexplicably fall this weekend to the lowly Tennessee Titans.

Pete Carroll Wednesday about the state of his team and detailed the issues that the Raiders are facing.

You can read the partial transcript below:

Las Vegas Raiders Pete Carroll | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Head Coach Pete Carroll

Q: There's been some inconsistency with the pass rush this year, especially getting home on the sacks. What can you do to try to get better?

Las Vegas Raiders Geno Smith | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Head Coach Pete Carroll: "Well, just because they throw it, doesn't mean that we had a great chance to rush, because we saw last week a bunch of really quick rhythm stuff, and we needed to cover it better and give the rush a chance. So, I think it's different than what it just looks like from the outside, in that regard, and that's something we have to do a better job of, for sure. So, we have to work together, and that's kind of always been the case."

Q: I know Stone Forsythe's a veteran, but can you give us your thoughts on his first start there, how you thought he did?

Las Vegas Raiders Ashton Jeanty | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Coach Carroll: "I thought he did a terrific job, really. He played really strong in the run game. He was really accurate with his calls and in his fits in the run game. He protected very well. He got in trouble the last play, I think, of the game on a pass, but other than that, he played an excellent football game, and we're really proud. Couldn't wait to recognize him in front of the team that he came through in a situation where you're following a great player in our program, and expectations are still high, and he lived up to them."

Q: When you mentioned covering it better, is that linebackers, cornerbacks?

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, it's a little bit of everything. It's not quite that easy. We have to mix our calls. We'll take first responsibility to mix our calls so that we can try to get them out of rhythm. They stayed with a real short concept in their passing game, and we're able to really execute really well. And so, there's things we have to do."

Q: What has to be done to get Geno Smith more comfortable and in a rhythm offensively?

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, we got to run the football better, more, and we're going to continue to work at it and see if we can continue to bring it to life. The running game has looked well in order right now. We needed to get more of them. That's part of it. That's just mixing football. That's how you go, you do it. We don't want to ever rely on the quarterback having to do the whole show and sitting in a shotgun, throw the football. I never coached that way. And so, we have to mix our stuff so that we can use our play action game and make sure that we're perimetering the game with all the ways that you can, which we have. And I was pleased with how we saw Ashton [Jeanty] come to life on the edge. He made some nice plays and just stretched the defense and put some threat in them with that. And then we got to make sure that we're calling all the best stuff in the situations. I mean, he's not calling the plays. We got to call them, and we got to make sure and get him in the right spots and give him the best chance to stay out of harm's way. And part of that is really controlling the game with what we do up front in the running game."

Q: Jack Bech got a lot more snaps this past game. What do you think he brings to the offense in a larger role going forward?

Coach Carroll: "He's a really competitive kid, and you saw him catch the ball and break tackles and make first downs a couple times, and it shows up in his blocking as well. He's an aggressive football player, and he fits the style that we like playing with. And so, hopefully Jack [Bech] will continue to have a bigger part in it. He's playing, and he's out there, so it's really likely that Jack will make his plays. Really have a lot of confidence in him in that regard."

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