Can Raiders Get Competitive in AFC?

After hiring Pete Carroll as their head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders are looking to compete for a postseason spot in 2025.

Carroll has been successful at almost every stop he’s made during his coaching career, bringing teams to championship levels.

The Raiders needed someone to establish a culture in Las Vegas. They needed a coach with strong leadership and character. They now have that with Carroll.

It has been three seasons since Las Vegas last made the playoffs, hoping that drought ends in 2025. But with a tough AFC West in front of them, the Raiders face an uphill battle.

Can Carroll make the Silver and Black competitive in the conference next season?

The AFC is not as tough at the top as the NFC. While the Raiders’ rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, have had a stranglehold on the conference for almost a decade, the AFC could be much easier to get to the top.

Who knows what the Chiefs will look like next season? How will they respond to being flattened in the Super Bowl by the Philadelphia Eagles, looking about as uncharacteristically flustered as they ever have?

The Chiefs have handled every challenger to their throne—the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans—it doesn’t matter. None have been able to overcome Kansas City’s strength. The Cincinnati Bengals did once, but they have struggled to recover since.

Could this mean the Raiders, who know this Chiefs team better than anyone, have a chance to work their way into the playoff picture?

For the Raiders to make the postseason next season, they’ll have to handle their own division first. Every team in the AFC West except for them went to the playoffs last season. That can’t feel good.

Carroll should hammer that fact home in his locker room so the team does not forget it. It could be a great source of motivation.

Complementary football will be key if the Raiders want to be a playoff team and make a serious run at competing in the AFC. New general manager John Spytek must invest in the trenches, bolstering that group so the team can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Quarterback play will also be a major factor. The Raiders cannot platoon the most important position in football for another season. Someone must emerge as a long-term option for this franchise, or they won’t have a chance against the best teams in their conference.

Las Vegas could rebuild quickly and have a shot at competing for a postseason spot. Once you get in, anything can happen.

Spytek must find Carroll the right pieces, and then it is on Carroll to put those pieces in position to succeed.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.