The strange reality of Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll continued to evolve this week, although many members of the fan base might use the word “devolve" instead. There could be other words for Carroll’s mindset that are less flattering, of course, especially after the Raiders’ latest thrashing, 34-10, at the hands of the New York Giants.
The loss ran the Raiders losing streak to ten games, and Carroll was asked after the game if he felt like he still had the support of ownership.
“I do. From all the guys I’ve talked to, I do feel like I have their support,” Carroll said in a piece written by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “What does that mean? I don’t know, but our conversations have been really good.”
Carroll didn’t share any specifics about those conversations, but some of them had to be about defensive end Maxx Crosby, who stormed out of the Raiders’ facility after a dispute about Crosby’s injury status. As has been the case with most things Raiders-related recently, this turned into a total mess, with the Raiders reporting that Crosby needed surgery after being shut down for the Giants game.
Crosby clearly begs to differ. He’s posted pictures of himself playing basketball and playing on a trampoline with his young daughter, and the defensive end hardly looks like a guy poised to go under the knife.
As for what happened on the field, that was the usual hot mess. In theory, Las Vegas had a chance to win yesterday’s game against the Giants, who are also so bad that this game was dubbed the “Toilet Bowl” going in.
No matter. The Raiders have specialized in finding ways to lose lately, and yesterday’s game was no exception. Quarterback Geno Smith threw two more interceptions as Las Vegas was routed by the Giants, who dominated the Raiders completely.
The string of failures doesn’t just extend back through the Crosby debacle, however. Carroll has fired both his special teams coach and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly in an effort to get better, but there’s been absolutely no difference in the way the Raiders play from week to week.
They play the Kansas City Chiefs at home to wrap up the season, and no one would be surprised to see the Raiders find a way to lose, despite the fact that the Chiefs will be playing third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun.