LAS VEGAS — If Pete Carroll’s latest presser proved anything, it’s that the Las Vegas Raiders have mastered the art of saying a lot without saying much at all. And in a season where the losses pile up faster than the injury reports, Raider Nation has become painfully fluent in the dialect of “coach-speak,” particularly when the message doesn’t match the mayhem on the field.
Asked what the Raiders can take from their earlier matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, Carroll leaned on familiarity and coaching continuity rather than any real sense of evolution. “Yeah, we just have a lot of familiarity and know their coaches and how they do things, so it doesn’t feel like it’s that much different,” he said.
And yes, that’s technically accurate—nothing feels that much different, because the Raiders are still stuck in the same loop: miscommunication, miscues, and a whole lot of misery.
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Carroll went on to praise the Chargers’ adaptability, noting, “As always, it’s who you got on game day that’s available to you.” That’s true, but if we’re being honest, the Raiders could have the entire roster healthy, hydrated and hand-delivered by Tom Brady himself, and the result would still come down to the same thing it always does: execution, or in Las Vegas’ case, the lack thereof. Familiarity is great, but familiarity without growth is just stagnation with better lighting.
Yes, that sounds harsh but accurate.
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Then came the Thanksgiving question—a softball lobbed gently down the middle of the plate. A chance for Carroll to reflect. Inspire. Maybe even throw a bone to a fan base exhausted from watching the franchise collapse under the weight of its own expectations.
Instead, he delivered the kind of answer that will surely divide Raider Nation into two camps: the optimists who cling to culture and the realists who know better.
He said he was thankful for the team’s attitude, appreciation, and unwavering effort. “These guys have come to work every day,” Carroll insisted, adding that the Raiders have shown “a positive kind of feeling behind everything that we’re doing.” He continued, “Unfortunately, it hasn’t shown up in the results of the games,” punctuating the obvious with the subtlety of a man who has watched 40 years of football but still seems bewildered each time a wheel falls off.
What can you say at this point?
Look—culture matters. Energy matters. Work ethic matters. But so do adjustments. So does accountability. So does getting your quarterback to stop throwing interceptions like they’re commemorative souvenirs on the Strip. Season-long positivity is admirable, but Raider Nation isn’t asking for morning-yoga energy. It’s asking for touchdowns. For protection schemes that don’t look like a tutorial on how not to block. For defensive stands that don’t depend entirely on Maxx Crosby playing like he’s auditioning for the role of Hydra in the next Marvel film.
What Carroll calls “gratitude,” fans call “stalling.” What the presser frames as “resilience,” the fan base sees as denial—the refusal to acknowledge that the issues are no longer theoretical, no longer developmental, no longer just growing pains of a new regime. They are structural. Philosophical. Cultural in the exact opposite way Carroll means it.
The truth is simple: Raider Nation doesn’t need more reminders that the team “comes to work.” It needs a reason to believe the work is leading somewhere. It needs a coach who can match the energy he asks his players to bring—not with slogans, not with vibes, but with solutions.
Until then, positivity is just another word for punting.
And the Raiders have done enough punting for everyone.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images