New-Look Raiders Rely on Full-Team Effort Under New Regime

The Las Vegas Raiders' offense has had a good game and a horrible game. There has not been an in between just yet. The Raiders knew that this was going to be a work in progress, and it was not going to be perfect or easy this season.

When you have a lot of moving pieces and young pieces, it is going to take some time to create that chemistry on the field when you are facing another team. The Raiders are not making any excuses for their poor performance.

They went back to the drawing board and watched the film. Now they are looking to improve all the mistakes they made and make this offense better. It all starts with veteran quarterback Geno Smith. He has to play better and make sure he does not turn the ball over. That was the key for the Raiders in their loss. Smith will learn quickly from it; he has been around long enough to know that you cannot win games in the NFL by turning it over that many times.

Aug 23, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (10) against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Raiders offense has a lot of good weapons. Now they have to make sure they are taking advantage of that and allowing them to make plays. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly wants everyone getting involved, as it keeps the defense on its toes.

"I think it's important to keep all five guys involved in the game plan," said Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. "You can't specifically just throw to one guy, because then defenses are going to start to double that one guy, trying to take him away. So, you've got five eligibles on every play and at some point in time, you've got to get it to him."

Las Vegas Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers at practice one day after asking GM John Spytek for a trade. | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Chip Kelly on Getting Everyone Involved

"And I think when we hit him on the on the shallow cross, he did an unbelievable job on third down and almost slipped out of the diving tackle by the safety and that would have been an even bigger game for him. But you saw his effectiveness against the Patriots."

"And I think the way it's going to be, as the season expresses itself, there's going to be games where Jakobi [Meyers] is the leading receiver and Brock [Bowers] is the leading receiver, and they may try to do some things to try to take him away and that's been talking. And Dont'e [Thornton Jr.] and the other guys have to step up."

dfd — Sep 15, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) takes the field for warm ups before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

"Mike Mayer, Mike did a really nice job, especially in the New England game, especially on third down, made some real critical third down conversions for us and got us into field goal range at the end of the game. So again, you're going to need all of your skill guys. You're going to need all three tight ends, you're going to need all three running backs, you're going to need all five receivers that are up on gameday to contribute to that."

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