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Pete Carroll Blames Chip Kelly for Las Vegas Raiders’ Offensive Problems
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- Pete Carroll Blames Chip Kelly for Las Vegas Raiders’ Offensive Problems
Sick of not being able to score points or win games, the Las Vegas Raiders overhauled their coaching staff this offseason. They moved on from an inexperienced former player and hired a 74-year-old former Super Bowl winner with 19 seasons of experience as an NFL head coach.
Hiring Pete Carroll, trading for a franchise quarterback, drafting a potential superstar running back, and hiring Chip Kelly as the offensive coordinator were supposed to fix an offense that ranked 29th in scoring in 2024. It hasn't worked.
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While he is learning a new offense, with unfamiliar pass-catchers, it's not like Geno Smith is a rookie. If Sam Darnold can thrive with the Seattle Seahawks after changing atmospheres, then Smith should be expected to do the same.
Yet, the Raiders' QB leads the NFL with nine interceptions. Making matters worse, the Raiders are actually scoring fewer points per game this season than they were in 2024, when Gardner Minshew , Aidan O'Connell, and Desmond Ridder were the starting quarterbacks. Only two teams have scored fewer points than the Raiders have this season.
According to Pro Football Talk , when coach Carroll was recently asked what the Raiders need to do to help Smith get out of his funk, he said they need to dial up more plays for the running game.
"We have to run the football better, more," Carroll said. "And we're going to continue to work at it and see if we can't continue to bring it to life. The running game has looked well in order right now, we need to get more of them. That's part of it. That's just mixing football. That's how you do it. We don't ever want to rely on the quarterback has to do the whole show, sitting in the shotgun, throw the football. Never coach that way. So we have to mix our stuff so we can use our play action game."
Pete's not going to say it, but Chip Kelly is the one who's calling the plays in Las Vegas , not coach Carroll. In other words, he's throwing shade at the play-caller he picked, and it seems like they're butting heads early on.
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Coach Carroll clearly believes the Raiders need to be running more, suggesting Kelly is "relying on the quarterback to do the whole show, sitting in the shotgun." Carroll says he "never coaches that way." That's a pretty blunt and no-nonsense response to the media. But he wasn't done.
Next, Carroll was asked about Ashton Jeanty 's progress and how they can build off his recent momentum after topping 100 yards from scrimmage in each of his past two games.
"I was pleased with how we saw Ashton come to life on the edge," Carroll said. "He made some nice plays and stretched the defense and put some threat on them with that. And we've got to make sure that we're calling all the best stuff in the situations. He's not calling the plays. We've got to call them and we've got to make sure and get him in the right spots and give him the best chance to stay out of harm's way.Part of that is really controlling the game with what we do in front in the running game."
You have to read between the lines, but coach Carroll and coach Kelly clearly have some work to do behind the scenes. If not, we could see more changes coming to the Raiders' staff sooner rather than later.
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