The Las Vegas Raiders' decision to reunite Pete Carroll and Geno Smith—the dynamic duo that once found success in Seattle—has devolved into one of the most disastrous coaching experiments in recent NFL memory. Just seven games into the 2025 season, the partnership has produced historically bad results, leaving the franchise at 2-5 and mired in offensive ineptitude that's rewriting the record books for all the wrong reasons.
At 73 years old, Carroll became the oldest head coach in NFL history when he took the Raiders job. His decision to push management into trading for his former quarterback Smith was supposed to inject stability and championship experience into a struggling organization. Instead, it's accelerated the Raiders' descent into one of the league's laughingstocks, with fans already calling for Carroll's firing after a tenure that's yielded results worse than predecessors Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce.
Offensive Catastrophe Reaches Historic Lows
The numbers tell a story of unprecedented futility. In Week 7's 31-0 shellacking by the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders managed just 96 total yards on a franchise-record-low 30 offensive plays, becoming only the second team since 1950 to run that few plays in a game. They recorded a mere three first downs—the fewest by any team since the Raiders themselves had three in 2008—and went 0-for-7 on third-down conversions while the Chiefs controlled possession for over 42 minutes.
The offensive collapse wasn't an isolated incident. Two weeks earlier, the Indianapolis Colts overwhelmed Las Vegas 40-6, outscoring them 40-0 in the second and third quarters combined. The Raiders have failed to score 10 points three times this season and have been held to six points or fewer twice in three games. Their 235.6 yards per game ranks dead last in the NFL, a stunning 35 yards behind the next-worst offense.
Carroll's post-game assessment—”This was a game that I didn't see coming”—revealed a head coach completely out of touch with his team's capabilities. His claim that injuries had more impact than anticipated rings hollow when the fundamental inability to execute basic football plays has plagued the offense all season long.
The Geno Smith Disaster
At the heart of the Raiders' offensive dysfunction stands Geno Smith, who leads the entire NFL with 10 interceptions through seven games. The quarterback who once revitalized his career under Carroll in Seattle has regressed dramatically, throwing multiple interceptions in four different games this season, including three picks in two separate contests.
Oh Boy: Geno Smith throws his TENTH interception this season…
Cody Barton makes the play.pic.twitter.com/izc7HZm5Ls
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 12, 2025
Smith's statistics paint a grim picture: a 77.1 passer rating (31st in the NFL), 34.4 QBR (29th), and just seven touchdown passes against those 10 interceptions. His performance against Kansas City epitomized his struggles—10-of-16 for a paltry 67 yards before being benched for Kenny Pickett in the fourth quarter. The fact that Smith posted his second consecutive game with fewer than 70 passing yards speaks to a complete collapse of the passing attack.
Carroll's unwavering loyalty to Smith has become a liability. Despite the mounting turnovers and offensive stagnation, the head coach has repeatedly stood by his quarterback, citing practice performance and making excuses for game-day failures. One NFL executive bluntly assessed the situation: “Watching the Raiders when they can't establish a running game is simply painful”. The offensive line has been atrocious, allowing 28 pressures and five sacks in one game alone, but Smith's decision-making—holding the ball too long, taking unnecessary sacks, and forcing passes into coverage—has compounded every problem.
A Historic Misstep That Can't Be Undone
The Carroll-Smith reunion represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what made their Seattle partnership successful. In Seattle, Carroll inherited an organization with strong infrastructure and gradually built a championship-caliber roster around an ascending Smith. In Las Vegas, he walked into a talent-depleted roster and somehow convinced himself that trading for Smith—who had already begun showing cracks in 2023—would provide the solution.
The trade has proven catastrophic. Seattle received a third-round pick for Smith and used it on quarterback Jalen Milroe, while the Raiders got a quarterback leading the league in interceptions and posting career-worst efficiency numbers. Former Seahawks general manager John Schneider looks prescient for moving on from Smith, while Carroll appears trapped by his loyalty to a player whose game has abandoned him.
At 73 years old and coming off a year away from coaching, Carroll may simply no longer possess the energy, adaptability, or modern offensive acumen necessary to compete in today's NFL. His offensive philosophy appears outdated, his quarterback evaluation has proven disastrous, and his team has been outcoached in virtually every game. The Raiders have been shut out once, blanked in entire halves multiple times, and regularly held under 100 total yards—all symptoms of a coaching staff unable to adjust or execute at an acceptable level.
The Carroll-Smith experiment hasn't just failed—it's failed historically. With a minus-96 point differential that's comfortably the worst in the league, offensive output that ranks last in nearly every meaningful category, and a quarterback leading the NFL in interceptions, this partnership has set the Raiders back years. What was supposed to be a marriage of championship experience and proven success has instead become a cautionary tale about nostalgia-based decisions and the dangers of reuniting aging coaches with declining quarterbacks. Seven games in, the experiment is already over—it just hasn't been officially declared dead yet.
