Mistakes galore: Raiders nowhere close to competitive in loss to Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) is sacked by Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (97) during the second half of an NFL football game at Allegiant Stadium Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Photo by: Steve Marcus

Pete Carroll has repeatedly defended the Raiders’ slide to the bottom of the NFL by saying that in most of their losses, the team has been, “a play here or there,” from a different outcome.

Make that about 50 or 60 plays away, if not more, to accurately describe his team’s performance against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football to cap NFL Week 11.  

Dallas destroyed Las Vegas 33-16 at Allegiant Stadium, ceasing any hopeful feelings that had come out of the Raiders hanging around in narrow losses to the Jaguars and Broncos the last two weeks.  

The game featured 118 plays from scrimmage, and the Cowboys were better than the Raiders for the mast majority of them. Despite spending the final 21 minutes of game time in garbage time milking the clock with as high as a 22-point lead, Dallas outgained Las Vegas by a whopping 6.1 yards per play to 4.2 yards per play.

Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott threw touchdown passes on four straight possessions in the middle of the game to snap his team’s own two-game losing streak.

They all went to different players as CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson, George Pickens and Ryan Flournoy all found the end zone, in that order.

Las Vegas didn’t score a touchdown until the second minute of the fourth quarter when quarterback Geno Smith hit receiver Tre Tucker with a six-yard pass to cut its deficit to 15 points.

Las Vegas’ defense responded by forcing a Dallas three-and-out, but Tucker then ruined all the goodwill he established by scoring for the first time in eight weeks.

He mistakenly fielded a punt at the 5-yard line, and then ran backwards for a two-yard loss.

A false start followed and, despite getting caved in by the interior of the Cowboys’ defensive line all night, offensive coordinator called a dive play for running back Ashton Jeanty.

Donovan Ezeiruaku and Sam Williams stuffed him for a safety.

Jeanty had six carries for seven yards on the night.

The Raiders’ offensive line were outclassed with injuries to arguably their two best blockers, Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson, and gave up four sacks and 11 quarterback hits.

Smith managed 238 passing yards by completing 27 of 42 attempts. He also regained his top spot in the league in interceptions by committing his 13^th of the year late in the second quarter.

Smith threw into heavy traffic on a pass intended for Michael Mayer with linebacker Kenneth Murray tipping the ball and safety Markquese Bell catching the deflection.

A few faint boos were audible, but Raiders’ fans were hardly heard for the rest of the night after the turnover.

Allegiant Stadium had a roaring atmosphere early as the crowd split between Cowboys’ and Raiders’ fans took their turns cheering on their teams.

Las Vegas gave the home fans an early boost when superstar edge rusher Maxx Crosby strip-sacked Prescott on Dallas’ second possession with rookie defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway recovering the fumble.

But the Raiders’ offense went backwards, losing two yards, and settled for a 45-yard field goal from Daniel Carlson.

After costly misses in the last two games — an extra point against Jacksonville and a potential game-tying field goal in Denver — Carlson converted every time he was on the field against Dallas.

It just didn’t make much of a difference, as the Raiders fell to 2-8 with a game hosting the fellow 2-8 Cleveland Browns scheduled for 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.

One or two plays wasn’t going to change the outcome against the Cowboys. Dallas (now 4-5-1) came in with a losing record but dismantled a Las Vegas team that the coaching staff felt was inching towards to breaking through.

This is a developing story. Check back later for more coverage.