Raiders use first loss under new coach as learning experience before facing former quarterback

Los Angeles Chargers safety Tony Jefferson (23) intercepts a pass intended for Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (10) during the first half of an NFL football game at Allegiant Stadium Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Cam Hart (20) is at left. Photo by: Steve Marcus

Some NFL teams swear by not dwelling on bad losses. They watch the film once and, “flush it,” to move on with the rest of the season.

Past versions of the Raiders have even operated that way, but not this year’s squad. Las Vegas reviewed its 20-9 Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers extensively. Quarterback Geno Smith said he rewatched the game “over 10 times,” to diagnose what went wrong.

Eight days after putting on one of Week 1’s best offensive performances in a win at New England, Smith struggled against the Chargers with three interceptions, three more turnover-worthy throws per Pro Football Focus and a league-low quarterback rating. He’ll look to get back on track against one of the rarest of Raiders’ opponents. The Silver and Black travel to Landover, Md., for the first time since 2017 and only the third time since 2005.

Favorable matchup: Marcus Mariota vs. Raiders’ defense

Washington second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels is off to one of the best starts to a career in NFL history. But Las Vegas will avoid matching up with the player who beat out tight end Brock Bowers for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors last year. Daniels suffered a knee sprain in a 27-18 Week 2 loss to the Packers and didn’t practice this week, leaving the Commanders to announce him as out against the Raiders. Former Raider and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota will fill in. Mariota has a similar skillset to Daniels, but has never excelled as a passer consistently since being taken No. 2 overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2014 NFL Draft. The Commanders’ offense should continue to be full of read option and designed quarterback run plays but, so far, the Raiders look well-equipped to handle that sort of plan. Las Vegas sits fourth in the NFL in only giving up 3.2 yards per carry through two weeks. Carroll has graded the Raiders’ defense out strongly overall in both games. Many expected Las Vegas to be more offensively led this year, but the defense has been the better unit so far in sitting 17th in the league in giving up 5.3 yards per play to the offense rating 24th in gaining only 4.8 yards per play.

Problematic matchup: Raiders’ scheduling spot vs. Commanders’ extended rest

Perhaps the only reason Daniels had a chance to play at all is because he’s gotten 10 days to recover since going up against the Packers on Thursday Night Football. The Raiders find themselves in the opposite situation, having only six days (one fewer than normal) to prepare for the Commanders off of playing on Monday Night Football. It’s the type of situation some prognosticators chalked up to a, “schedule loss,” from the moment the NFL announced all the games for the season in April. It doesn’t help matters that the Raiders have historically struggled while traveling to the East coast and are already making their second trip there this year after opening the season at New England. Teams can request to have two of their cross-country trips on back-to-back weeks so they can stay in the same area, but the Raiders don’t appear to have done that this season. Carroll does favor longer trips, however, as Las Vegas is departing Friday for most road games this season. Last year’s coach, Antonio Pierce, had a different preference as the Raiders routinely didn’t arrive in opponents’ cities until Saturday evening. It will be interesting to see if the new philosophy yields better results as Las Vegas went 2-7 on the road last year.

Gamebreaker: Running back Ashton Jeanty

This is an ideal spot for the Raiders’ No. 5 overall NFL Draft pick and reigning Heisman Trophy runner-up to break out. Washington’s run defense was a major weakness a year ago as it ranked 31st in the NFL in giving up five yards per rush attempt. The Commanders appear to have improved this year, allowing a mostly acceptable 84 yards on 23 carries to former Raider running back Josh Jacobs last week, but it’s still probably too early to tell definitively. As the highest-drafted running back in seven years and a frequent first-round fantasy football selection, Jeanty has been under a lot of scrutiny and come under fire for his modest 81 rushing yards on 30 carries through the first two games. The Raiders are 31st in the NFL at 2.9 yards per rush attempt after spending the offseason talking up their plans to lean on the run game. But, again, the sample size is too small to draw any conclusions. This will be their first game against a defense that doesn’t prioritize stopping the run. Washington plays more of a bend-don’t-break style to try to limit explosive plays downfield. Jeanty should be able to take advantage.

Big Number: 30-8

That’s the record assembled by Carroll in two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks when he had current Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn as his defensive coordinator. The pair helped scheme the Seahawks to a blowout win in Super Bowl 48 over the Broncos and then led the team back to Super Bowl 49 where they lost to current Raiders minority owner Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. Carroll has never hidden his affection for Quinn, saying the Commanders were one of the teams he watched the closest last season during his year off from football because of their relationship. “It’s a special opportunity,” Carroll said of his matchup against Quinn this week. “I love competing against people that I know, and the more I like him, the more I like to beat him.” This is in all stark contrast to last week when Carroll’s long-running rivalry with Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh drew a lot of attention with the pair doing little to downplay their reported animosity towards each other.

Best Bet (0-2): Ashton Jeanty over 14.5 rushing attempts

The rookie running back could be every bit as impactful as his NFL Draft scouting reports indicated and still not eclipse his over/under 66.5 rushing yards against the Commanders. The Raiders’ offensive line simply hasn’t proven to be an effective enough run-blocking unit to pay that much of a premium on something that hasn’t yet come close to happening. The surer bet should be that Jeanty gets more opportunities this week. Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have defended their lower-than-expected usage for Jeanty so far but also expressed interest in getting him more involved going forward. The Raiders were playing from behind for the most part against the Chargers, so the game script didn’t set up well to lean on Jeanty. This should be a closer game, and the Raiders need to start figuring out how much they can trust their running attack.