Raiders Receive Brutal Reality Check About Chip Kelly

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(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Las Vegas Raiders‘ offense has been awful this 2025 NFL season. While the Silver and Black are middle of the pack in passing yards per game (210.2) and (112.6) per game, this production hasn’t led to points.

Despite the offense putting up those respectable numbers, Las Vegas sit in the bottom three regarding points per game this season. Only the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans are averaging less points than the Raiders

so far this season heading into Week 6, per ESPN.

Geno Smith’s play this season has been criticized as Las Vegas isn’t seeing the veteran who played with the Seattle Seahawks, but instead getting the New York Jets version. However, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly should be receiving blame,

as ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote about how people around the NFL feel about the Raiders’ offense.

“If the season spirals down the drain, could the Raiders look at Kenny Pickett? Possibly,” Graziano wrote in an ESPN article published on October 8.

“That’s what the Browns were trying to do before they drafted two quarterbacks and Pickett got hurt in camp before landing in Las Vegas on a trade. But for now, it sounds like the Raiders will ride it out with Smith.

“What I’m hearing from a lot from people around the league is that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s scheme isn’t creating enough advantages to overcome the Raiders’ personnel deficiencies, and there’s no margin for error if Smith keeps turning the ball over as much as he has.”

Can the Raiders Offense Improve?

After the latest loss in which the Raiders scored only six points, Smith explained how Las Vegas can try to salvage its 2025 NFL season before it gets out of hand, if it hasn’t already.

“Work harder, study harder, study longer, band together, become a tighter group,” Smith said after the loss to the Colts on October 5. “And I think we’re already a tight group, but we

got to get tighter as a group. And guys got to lock in. I mean, it’s a tough game. It’s a one-play-at-a-time game.

“They’re going to face a tough team every week. Man, that’s the

NFL. There’s not going to be any easy game. We got to get in our mind that we’re going to go out and win the game and we’re going to get it done. Until we do that, we’ll have the same results.”

Raiders Offense Will Be Sticking With Geno Smith

Even with the concerns the Raiders offense is showing through five weeks, they won’t be making any changes under center, at least not for now.

Smith was brought in to bring veteran leadership to a young Raiders offense, but the mistakes usually seen from rookies or players in their second or third year have surprisingly come from the 34-year-old.

Despite that, head coach Pete Carroll explained why Kenny Pickett wasn’t brought in after the game against the Indianapolis Colts was essentially decided.

“Here’s the reason why I didn’t do that: We need to stay out there and keep practicing,”

Carroll said postgame when asked if there was a thought to bench Smith for Pickett. “We need to keep practicing, we need the reps, we need the turns, we need to run the system, we need to feel it, we need to see the guys get the opportunities to improve.

“I thought about it because there was a chance to do that. … That’s not what’s necessary. We need to get better and get right, so these are the games that we’re working on, and these are the games that we learn from and grow from so that we can change the course of the way games are going.”

Josh McDaniels Shrugs Off Warner's Critique of Drake Maye’s Style of Play

Retired quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner raised eyebrows when he said during a midweek appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show" that he feels New England Patriots second-year signal-caller Drake Maye relies too much on "backyard football" tendencies.

While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked about Warner's remarks.

Drake Maye often "makes a play" for New England Patriots offense

"Well, when it works ... players make plays," McDaniels said, per Karen Guregian of MassLive. "Sometimes the design of the offense either isn’t good enough on a certain play, and the player extends it, or the defense does something to stop us from doing what we’d like to do initially, then the player makes a play. I think that happens a lot in football. It just gets talked about a lot more when it’s the quarterback."

Maye made plenty of plays during New England's 23-20 victory at the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills this past Sunday night. Most notably, he completed 13-of-14 passes for 184 yards over the contest's final two quarters before Andres Borregales kicked a game-winning field goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.

That said, Warner warned that Maye has "got to be able to consistently live in the pocket when the situation dictates that and then go create and be that special playmaker beyond that." McDaniels seemingly isn't losing sleep over the fact that Maye goes off-script more than Warner would like to see from the 23-year-old.

Josh McDaniels reminds Drake Maye to sometimes give up on certain plays

"Hopefully it ends in a play that either doesn’t hurt us, or we have an opportunity to extend the drive," McDaniels explained about his mindset. "And I thought (Maye) made a few good decisions the other night, and made some plays out of it. There will be times when he’s just got to throw the ball away, which he’s done that plenty of times."

The StatMuse website shows that Maye enters the weekend ranked seventh in the NFL with a combined 1,371 passing and rushing yards on the season. He's also tied for 10th with nine combined passing and rushing scores.

Maye will look to build upon his Week 5 outing when 3-2 New England plays at the New Orleans Saints (1-4) this Sunday. As of Friday morning, ESPN BET had the Patriots as 3.5-point road favorites for that matchup.

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