There’s no sugar coating it, the Kansas City Chiefs thoroughly embarressed the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7. While the scoreboard only read 31-0 by the time the fourth quarter clock ticked down to zeros,
the game was a lot more lopsided than that. It was clear the Raiders and Chiefs weren’t on the same level, with Kansas City picking up as many first downs (30) as Las Vegas had plays run.
A matchup that is one of the NFL’s longest standing rivalries turned into one side waiving the white flag while the other showed mercy, pulling starters in the final frame. That leaves no room for winners in this week’s winners and losers column as Sunday’s performance was a complete failure by the Raiders.
LOSER: Pete Carroll
The blame has to start at the top after a miserable outing like this. It’s pretty clear the Raiders weren’t ready to play, as the Chiefs scored on their first five possessions with four touchdowns and a field goal while the Raiders had just two first downs and one was via a penalty. That falls squarely on the head coach’s shoulders, especially since the team looked checked out and like it was already on upcoming the bye week.
Carroll has a strong resume and talked all offseason about how he’s ready to win now in Las Vegas. However, it feels like the organization is headed in the opposite direction.
For comparison, the Silver and Black were also 2-5 through seven games with Antonio Pierce last season and had a point differential of negative 59. This year’s Carroll-led squad is sitting at negative 77 points after suffering it’s second over 30-point loss in the last three weeks.
That’s led many to speculate about the 74-year-old’s job secruity, especially since a lot of signs are pointing toward another offseason rebuild.
LOSER: Entire Coaching Staff
Kansas City converted 27 more first downs, won the time of possession battle by over 24 minutes and outgained Las Vegas by about 340 yards, in addition to everything that was said above about the team not being ready to play/being underprepared. So, Chip Kelly and Patrick Graham could be singled-out, but the truth is Sunday’s performance was a complete failure by the entire coaching staff.
The Raiders were outclassed in every facet of the game, from the first snap to the last. Especially since it isn’t the first time this has happened this season, the entire coaching staff needs to look themselves in the mirror and figure out how to get this team to at least be competitive.
LOSER: Mark Davis
Since Davis took over for his father as Principal Owner in 2011, the franchise has had seven full-time head coaches and five general managers (not counting Hue Jackson as the GM in 2011 and Champ Kelly’s interim stint in 2023). So far, that has yielded a record of 93-142 (39.6 winning percentage) and just two winning seasons/playoff apperences. It’s time — and probably is even past due — to hold the owner accountable for the lack of success on the field.
Yes, Mark doesn’t meddle and let’s the people he’s hired do their jobs. However, that shouldn’t let him off the hook for consitently making bad hires. Something has to change at the top of the organization because the fanbase deserves better than the constant failures of regime after regime.
LOSER: John Spytek
Sunday’s loss was a strong wakeup call about how far off the Raiders’ roster is from competing with a team like the Chiefs. Spytek infamously let the majority of the club’s free agents walk in the offseason, epsecially on defense, and chose to replace them with more cost-effective solutions despite the team beginning free agency with plenty of cap space.
On top of that, the general manager decided to play the long game in the draft by taking several projects with potential over rookies who could contribute immediately. I’ve defended that in the past, but at 2-5, that argument is getting hard to make and it’s time to get the young guys on the field.
During the bye week, Spytek needs to have a hard conversation with Carroll and put his foot down that rookies like Jack Bech, Darien Porter, Caleb Rogers, Charles Grant, Tonka Hemingway, JJ Pegues and Cody Lindenberg need to get playing time for the rest of the campaign.
LOSER: Jackson Powers-Johnson
To be fair, Powers-Johnson wasn’t the only reason Las Vegas’ offense was pathetic in Kansas City and it’s ridicoulus that the coaching staff singled him out by benching him. However, there’s no denying that JPJ was bad on Sunday.
According to Pro Football Foucs, he gave up three presures (one sack) on just 14 opportunities to earn a 0.0 pass-blocking grade (yes, you read that right) and posted a 46.7 mark as a run blocker for an overall grade of 29.6, a personal low. So, the 2024 second-round pick had the worst game of his young career
LOSER: Kyu Blu Kelly
Along the same lines, Kelly certainly wasn’t the defense’s only problem on Sunday. However, he didn’t help matters by giving up a touchdown, biting on a fake screen and getting flagged for defensive holding. That led to him getting benched in favor of Porter at the end of the game, and given how the three-year veteran has been struggling recenlty, that should be a permanent move.
