Pete Carroll is trending towards a rare Silver & Black head coach whose team is awful in all three phases of the game. Even in the darkest of seasons, the special teams group operated on nominal settings while the offense and defense couldn’t gain any footing.
Not for the 2025 rendition of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Indianapolis Colts’ Segun Olubi sprinting around the right edge to block AJ Cole III’s punt this past Sunday was the latest example of special teams gaffe for the Silver & Black in its
inaugural year with Carroll at the helm. That big play gave the Colts momentum they wouldn’t relinquish in a pure 40-6 shellacking. The week before, kicker Daniel Carlson watched the Chicago Bears block his go-ahead field goal attempt with 33 seconds left in the game and the Raiders lost to the Chicago Bears 25-24.
Carroll noted the absence of tight end Michael Mayer in both field goal and punt team erodes the special teams group’s effectiveness.
“Well, we’ve had a couple plays that have happened where Mike Mayer plays, and we haven’t backed it up well enough. These guys have been challenged, and so we got to get our guys right,” Carroll said during his Monday media session. “If Mike can play, then we’d like to get him back in there. But there’s been a couple situations that have occurred where he’s a key player for you, and it just shows you that it’s hard with backups got to come in and they’re called on to play just like a legit starter, and so hopefully we clean that up.”
The senseless special teams group combining with the 30th-ranked offense and 25th-ranked defense — in terms of points scored and allowed — are a concoction of catastrophe. And it’s no surprise to see the Raiders at 1-4 overall. Be it Mayer becoming available and healthy or stressing the importance of attention to detail with backups, Carroll and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon need to course correct and get the group back in steadfast shape.
Carroll for one, remains resolute that McMahon — stepped in 19 years of being a special teams boss — can get it done.
“Yeah, we’re working really hard like we have been. Tommy’s been here a long time and done a good job with the club and for the club, and we haven’t changed any of our emphasis. We’ve followed it as much as we can, and we’re counting on really good results,” Carroll explained. “So, the fact that big plays have happened, we got to make sure that we got guys in the right spots. We’re going to keep working with new guys to fit in, see if they can make plays for us. We need our guys that are covering the kicks to do a consistent job, and I’d like to have more defensive guys on those teams when we can.
“But really, our emphasis has been, I would think, is consistent as any part of our team. So, we just got to get better results. We got to get away from the big plays.”
The Raiders were fortunate a holding penalty wiped out the Colts’ 98-yard kickoff return right after Las Vegas took a 3-0 lead off a Carlson’s field goal during the team’s opening drive.
There are compounding factors to this for Las Vegas, however.
Cole suffered what the team describes as a low-ankle sprain and the punter will try to kick on Friday to gauge availability and effectiveness. Cole not only serves as the Raiders’ field flipping punter, but he’s also the holder on Carlson’s field goal attempts. While he wasn’t able to punt after the block this past Sunday, Cole was still able to complete holding duties, albeit, hobbled.
Then there’s the fact that McMahon isn’t lone wolf. He’s got Kade Rannings (six years of experience) and Derius Swinton II (15 years of experience) as his pair of assistant coaches in the special teams room, which makes you honestly wonder how mistakes are happening with a trio of coaches helming the group.
Where They Stand
Carlson went 2-for-3 against the Colts and his lone miss was the 57-yard try that sailed wide right just before halftime in Indianapolis. The Raiders place kicker ranks seventh in the league with 12 attempts and 13th in made boots with nine. That gives Carlson a 75 percent field goal percentage which is far below the league average of 83.7 percent.
In terms of attempts and makes, the Tennessee Titans’ Joey Slye paces the league with 17 tries and is tied for the NFL lead with 13 kicks made. The Colts’ Spencer Shrader also made 13 boots but was lost for the season after Raiders reserve safety Tristan McCollum injured the kicker’s knee trying to block an extra point attempt.
Cole, meanwhile, ranks 28th in the league with 14 punts. The 717 total yards is good for 25th and the Raiders punter’s 51.2 yards per punt average is good for fifth overall. The Cleveland Browns’ Corey Bojorquez paces the league with 28 total punts while the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ryan Rehkow leads the NFL in total yards (1,433) and average yards per punt (53.1).
Snap Counts
Second-year linebacker Tommy Eichenberg and rookie Cody Lindenberg pace the Raiders in special teams snaps with 108 each — good for 85.71 percent of the unit’s total, according to Pro Football Reference. Safety Christopher Smith is right behind with 86 (68.25 percent) with rookie cornerback Darien Porter following with 70 special teams snaps (55.56 percent).
The trio of McCollum (69 snaps, 54.76), running back Dylan Laube (67, 53.17 percent), and wide receiver Justin Shorter (61, 48.41 percent) are clustered closely together.
Before sustaining a concussion, Mayer accounted for 19 special teams snaps. And here’s an interesting one: Defensive end Maxx Crosby, who has played 100 percent of the defensive snaps, has 24 special teams snaps (19.05 percent).
