There aren’t many teams that can say they began and ended the 2025 season with wins, but the 3-14 Las Vegas Raiders managed to pull that off by taking down the Kansas City Chiefs 14-12 in Week 18. It was the Raiders’ first victory in nearly three months and in the division over the last two years. Also, Las Vegas managed to maintain the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
That gave Raider Nation plenty to cheer about on Sunday, leading to a more positive winners and losers column.
WINNER: Tyree Wilson
I was hard
on Wilson last week, as he had an underwhelming performance against the New York Giants. However, I’m eating some crow this time around as the third-year pro had a phenomenal outing in the season finale. Wilson had the best game of his career as a pass-rusher, collecting seven pressures (fifth-most among edge defenders in Week 18, per Pro Football Focus) and a couple of sacks.
Both times he got to the quarterback were very impactful, too, logging a strip sack and a safety to guide Las Vegas to the two-point victory. Wilson’s future is still murky, but he did his job on Sunday by finishing the season on a high note.
LOSER: Pete Carroll
This one is obvious since Carroll ended up getting fired the day after the game. Clearly, that was a foregone conclusion as the win didn’t save his job. He’s a Hall of Fame-caliber coach, but this will likely be the end of the 74-year-old’s career, and finishing it with a 3-14 record has to sting. At least Carroll can say he won his first and last game as an NFL head coach, going out a winner (kind of).
WINNER: Tonka Hemingway
As frustrating as this season was for the Silver and Black, one of the few bright spots was watching Hemingway’s growth down the stretch of the campaign. He became a fixture in the defensive line rotation over the last six games and got better every week, culminating with a season-high four pressures and two sacks in the season finale.
The South Carolina product ends his rookie year with four sacks, which is good production considering he only played in nine games and only received more than 20 defensive snaps in five of them.
LOSER: Kenny Pickett
Pickett is an impending free agent and had an opportunity to put some good tape out there to prove he can be a viable backup quarterback in the NFL. However, he ended up completing one of four passes for three yards and an interception while getting significantly outplayed by Aidan O’Connell.
Also, Pickett was dangerously close to throwing another pick right before getting pulled from the game, giving him two ‘turnover-worthy plays’ from PFF. The fourth-year pro made two starts for Las Vegas this season and combined for 67 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in those contests. That could make finding a new home difficult this offseason.
WINNER: Charles Grant
Grant finally got a significant amount of playing time, logging 44 offensive snaps after having just 15 heading into the weekend. He wasn’t much of a factor in the run game, recording about a baseline PFF run-blocking grade (59.5), but he had a strong showing in pass protection with just one pressure surrendered on 21 opportunities. For a guy who rode the bench most of the season, that’s a good way for the rookie to finish and head into the offseason.
LOSER: 2nd Round Pick
The New York Giants being notoriously bad at tanking allowed the Raiders to lock up the first selection in this April’s draft before kickoff on Sunday, so the win didn’t mess up the franchise’s opportunity to get a quarterback of the future. However, it will impact the organization’s standing throughout the rest of the draft.
Four teams finished with 3-14 records, meaning the draft order between them will rotate round by round throughout the weekend, giving the Raiders the 36th overall pick instead of the 33rd. Granted, that’s not a significant difference and the ultimate goal was secured, but this is the one downside of the victory.
WINNER: Greedy Vance Jr.
Vance had a tough outing against the Giants last week and needed a bounce-back performance to build some momentum/confidence heading into the offseason. While the Chiefs were two-of-two when throwing his way, the undrafted rookie kept them to just eight total yards and recorded a ‘defensive stop’ in the process, via PFF. That might not be much, but for a guy who has received little playing time this season, he took advantage of the limited opportunity.
WINNER: Tommy Eichenberg
Eichenberg only participated in 18 defensive snaps but had an active afternoon. He tied for the team lead with six total tackles, recording four on defense and two more on special teams. Also, the second-year pro was credited with two defensive stops, was targeted once and allowed just a four-yard completion, and had a batted pass on one of two pass-rush opportunities. As is the constant theme here, that’s a good way for a young player to get a confidence booster heading into the offseason.
