Analysis: Raiders’ season all but over after another blowout loss before bye week

A Las Vegas Raiders fan is seen in the stands during the second half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. Photo by: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Knee injuries had already sidelined two of the Raiders’ three best players going into Sunday’s Week 7 game at the Chiefs.

Before the end of the first half, it became all three. Las Vegas rusher Maxx Crosby exited with a knee and back pain in the second quarter at Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium after a low, but legal, block from Kansas City tight end Noah Gray.

What little energy the Raiders had shown earlier in the game evaporated even further without their leader, as they fell to an embarrassing 31-0 defeat to the archrival Chiefs.

Las Vegas goes into its bye week with a 2-5 record, and virtually no hope of a turnaround in coach Pete Carroll’s first season.

The Raiders have now lost their last three road games by an average of more than 27 points per game with the beatdown at the Chiefs following similar outings facing the Colts and Commanders.

And this was supposed to be the manageable part of the schedule. Las Vegas only projected as a favorite in one of its next eight games going into Sunday — a Nov. 23 date hosting the Cleveland Browns — and that may now even be in doubt.

Las Vegas stood no chance against Kansas City, as the home team scored on each of its first six possessions. The streak only ended when Chiefs coach Andy Reid substituted out two-time Most Valuable Player award-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes for backup Gardner Minshew before the end of the third quarter.

The Chiefs finished the game with a 30-3 advantage in first downs. No NFL team had picked up three first downs or fewer in a game in the last 17 years.

Putting Minshew in early might have been more than a product of the lopsided score. Reid has taken glee over the years subtly stoking the rivalry with the Raiders, and featuring Minshew might have been the latest chapter.

Minshew began last season as the Raiders’ starting quarterback before getting benched and suffering a season-ending collarbone injury. Las Vegas released Minshew this offseason with many fans blaming last year’s disappointment on his underperformance.

Minshew substituted in for Mahomes early in the second quarter at the goal line but a false start pushed the Chiefs back. Mahomes came back in and fired an eight-yard touchdown pass to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown two plays later.

Mahomes threw a pair of touchdown passes to returning No. 1 receiver Rashee Rice, who had served a six-game suspension to start the season, in between the score to Brown.

Kansas City telegraphed wanting to get Rice into the end zone, running two plays for him on the two previous snaps before his first touchdown on a shovel pass, but Las Vegas still couldn’t stop it.

Rice fooled Raiders cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly on his second touchdown catch, a 3-yard score. Kelly had another rough day and gave up a large chunk of Mahomes’ 286 passing yards but he wasn’t the only problem.

Las Vegas’ offensive line was a sieve as Geno Smith managed only 67 passing yards while completing 10 of 16 attempts before getting benched for Keny Pickett late.

Pickett fumbled his first snap at the team’s own 14-yard line with another former Raider, defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, recovering the loose ball.

That was the game’s only turnover as the Raiders bungled a couple chances at their own.

Defensive tackle Jonah Laulu dropped a Mahomes pass thrown straight to him before Rice’s second touchdown. Safety Jeremy Chinn forced a third-quarter fumble by Brown but no one else in silver and black was around to fall on it.

Las Vegas’ effort seemed to wane after Crosby went down and the scoring margin grew wider. Playing hard regardless of the situation is supposed to be a hallmark of the culture Carroll is trying to build in Las Vegas, one that should now squarely be in question.

The 74-year-old coach intimated that his goal for his first season in town was double-digit wins. Las Vegas would need to win eight of its remaining 10 games for that to happen.

The team that showed up in Kansas City on Sunday, and now potentially the one without Crosby going forward, looks a lot more likely to not win a single one.

The underachievement of last season's team under Minshew and fired coach Antonio Pierce, which finished 4-13, might pale in comparison to the version headed by Smith and Carroll this year.