Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders finished 2025 at 3 and 14, a season that started with a pulse and ended with the lights dimming. That Week 1 win in New England felt like the start of something — Geno Smith hitting Tre Tucker deep on third and long, a road win, a reason to believe. Then came the grind: ten straight losses between Week 6 and Week 17, two shutouts — zero in Kansas City in Week 7, zero in Philadelphia in Week 15 — and a team searching for an identity it never found. The one late bright spot fit the year: a Week 18 win over the Chiefs, 14 to 12, revenge served cold with nothing on the line. Across seventeen weeks, this team flashed, turned it over, and got muffed.

The team by the numbers tells the honest story. The Raiders posted a passing expected points added of minus 108 and a rushing expected points added of minus 95 — one of the least efficient offenses in football per play. They converted just 34 percent of third downs and scored touchdowns on only 15 percent of red zone trips, a bottom-of-the-league number that explains the stalled drives. And this wasn't boom or bust — this was a steady, low ceiling. Strip out the 29-point outlier against Jacksonville in Week 9, and the Raiders scored 21 or fewer in fourteen of seventeen games. Consistent. Just consistently stuck.

Now let's talk about the passing offense. 195 passing yards per game, 20 touchdowns, 22 giveaways, and 64 sacks allowed — nearly four a game that the quarterback hit the turf. The per-play passing expected points added was minus 0.19, meaning every dropback, on average, cost the Raiders field position and scoring equity. Geno Smith threw for 3,025 yards with 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions across 15 games, and his completion percentage over expected was just plus 1.3 — league-average accuracy behind a line that couldn't protect him. The interceptions in traffic and the sacks on obvious passing downs drowned out the flashes. This passing game got muffed, plain and simple.

Now let's dig into the rushing offense. 77.8 rushing yards per game on 21.4 carries, with a per-carry rushing expected points added of minus 0.26 — genuinely rough, one of the worst marks you'll see. Only 5 rushing touchdowns all season. Rookie Ashton Jeanty piled up 975 rushing yards on 266 carries with 5 scores, plus 55 catches for 346 yards and 5 more through the air — a complete back in a broken running game. Jeanty flashed real juice, ripping a 64-yard touchdown run against the Bears in Week 4 on a simple left guard crease, but week to week the ground game trended the wrong way — rarely explosive, consistently stuffed, dead last in red zone punch. That's a unit that needs rebuilding in front of the running back, not at running back.

Next up, the pass defense. This unit was the closest thing the Raiders had to a competent side of the ball, and that's a soft compliment. They allowed 214 passing yards per game, 23 touchdown throws, and posted a passing expected points added allowed of plus 43 — and remember, on defense negative is good, so plus 43 means below average against the pass, just not catastrophic. They got home 37 times and forced 16 takeaways, under one a game and a big reason they couldn't flip field position — steady floor, low ceiling. The highlight belonged to Maxx Crosby, who strip-sacked Dak Prescott deep in Cowboys territory in Week 11, with Tonka Hemingway falling on it at the 15. Third down was the killer: opponents converted 47 percent, so nearly every other third down the drive just kept going.

And the run defense. This is where the bleeding was worst. The Raiders allowed 118 rushing yards per game and 22 rushing touchdowns — more ground scores than any reasonable defense should concede. The per-carry rushing expected points added allowed came in at minus 0.04, which sounds fine in isolation, but the touchdown total tells the truth: when offenses got close, they ran it in, over and over. It wasn't one disaster week — it was a steady leak across all seventeen games. Until the front seven stands up at the goal line and makes teams earn it through the air, this defense will keep getting muffed by the run.