LAS VEGAS — Pete Carroll, ever the wide-eyed optimist in a season allergic to optimism, is still searching for a “winning formula” in Las Vegas—a phrase now best used with quotation marks and a warning label. At 2-10, the Las Vegas Raiders have run out of real solutions. Firing Tom McMahon and Chip Kelly was essentially the football equivalent of unplugging the router and hoping the Wi-Fi magically resets.
What remains? Not much—short of prayer circles, interpretive dance, or seeing if Brock Bowers can also coordinate the offense.
Oddsmakers, meanwhile, have firmly entered the acceptance stage of grief. BetMGM lists the Raiders as 7½-point home underdogs to the Denver Broncos, a team that recently won a game 10-7 and seemed very proud of it. Beyond that, Las Vegas closes with Philadelphia, Houston, the Giants and Kansas City. Only the Giants appear beatable, but “appear” is doing a heroic amount of work in that sentence.
Does it matter how many more games the Raiders win?
Whether the Raiders finish with two or three wins barely matters—draft position is the only real progress left. Their last two-win season was 2006, back when flip phones ruled, and this year’s 14.9 points per game ranks as the franchise’s third-worst ever. It’s essentially bragging about being the third-slowest ship to sink.
Carroll tried shuffling the offensive line in Sunday’s 31-14 loss to the Chargers. The result: minus a garbage-time drive, the Raiders gained just 91 yards—roughly one long afternoon of Brock Bowers hero ball away from total stat-sheet embarrassment.
The underlying issue isn’t just schematic…
The Raiders are paying for a draft that looks shaky and a free-agent class that appears more conceptual than functional. Carroll insists on focusing on the positives—”the stuff we did well,” he said—though identifying such material may require a magnifying glass and a patient disposition.
There are some positives—well, just one. Cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly continues to shine with his third interception in four games, a notable achievement on a defense that spends most Sundays bracing for impact.
While a nice development, it doesn’t erase the losing. It should be noted though, there have been a few “what-if” moments. The Raiders have repeatedly found ways to fumble winnable moments—a blocked field goal against Chicago, a failed two-point try swatted away by Jacksonville, and a 7-7 halftime tie against the Chargers that evaporated promptly upon contact with reality.
Carroll may choose positivity. Raider Nation chooses therapy.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images