‘Hard to Imagine’ Las Vegas Raiders Not Making Coaching Changes
While they have a chance to improve their pace on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, the Las Vegas Raiders expected to have a much better record than 2-7 heading into Week 11. The Raiders made several moves to improve upon the 4-13 record from Antonio Pierce in 2024, but it hasn’t led to better results.
There are many areas that deserve some blame, but as usual, the coaching staff will be highly scrutinized, especially considering Pete Carroll already has 19 years of NFL head coaching experience. Plus, Carroll even hired another experienced offensive coordinator in Chip Kelly, who has four years of NFL head coaching experience too.
Needless to say, the Raiders’ offense, led by Pro Bowl QB Geno Smith, has been an outright disaster. Las Vegas is actually averaging fewer points per game than last season, and currently ranks 31st in scoring. That’s a mark that is sure to cause changes in Vegas.
Recently, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio asked the question of whether coach Carroll could be ousted after just one season in Vegas. If not, Florio said, “it’s hard to imagine Carroll and Kelly coexisting for another season.”
Aside from the bad results on the field, coach Carroll has also been critical of Kelly, who handles the offensive play-calling duties this season. Ultimately, as Florio indicated, we don’t see any way that the Raiders can bring both Carroll and Kelly back. Chances are, Kelly will be the scapegoat.
But what about Geno Smith? The Raiders may be stuck with him in 2026 too.
Three players that will decided the Heat's fate on Monday night
The Miami Heat
Norman Powell – Grade: A+
Norman Powell was sensation and was a large part of the reason the Heat stayed in the game on Friday night for so long. His offense was perfect, and he showed all night why he so important to the team. The Heat might be the highest scoring team in the league, but their offensive rating is only middle of the pack. The offensive rating shows that the Heat, though greatly improved, have not completely fixed their offense. This is where a guy like Powell helps keep the team afloat. He was scoring whenever he wanted on all parts of the court. The defense had literally no answer for him as he went off for 38 points on an efficient night of 12/22 shooting and 8/15 from three.
The pressure he puts on the defense helps the four other players on the court to get easier looks and find their rhythm better as well. For the Heat to be competitive again, Powell has to be lights out on Monday night.
Kel’el Ware – Grade: C+
Kel’el Ware might be the Heat’s biggest X factor this year. If he takes a leap, and plays at that level consistently, then the Heat as a whole take a leap in the Eastern Conference standings. Ware continues to show his talent and has made strides in correcting some of his flaws this year, but a couple still remain, and it pains the Heat consistently. The biggest issue for the Heat recently is the inability to get defensive rebounds. As the main rebounder on the team, a lot of that falls on Ware.
Now I want to be clear, this is by no means all his fault, almost everyone on the team contributes to this issue. I am putting this on Ware because I think he has the best ability to fix this, at least until Bam Adebayo returns from injury. The Knicks have excellent rebounders all around their roster, the Heat have to be willing to box out on every shot. That simply did not happen on Friday night and the Heat were punished greatly, evidence by letting up 8 offensive rebounds to Mitchell Robinson. This can not continue, not even a little bit.
Nikola Jovic – Grade: C-
Jovic’s box score looks decent when considering he only played 13 minutes, but then you have to ask why he only played 13 minutes. That answer is because sometimes the box score can be misleading if you remove some stats, like his 5 fouls and then it also does describe how he actually played. Jovic has been the biggest let down this year for the Heat and without Adebayo or Tyler Herro, his disappointing play has been highlighted even more.
It is no secret the Heat do not have the biggest team. Because of this they need every forward to play well. Jovic simply has not consistently, and it is hurting the team. Like I mentioned under Ware, the team’s rebounding has been lackluster at best, Jovic can help to fix this problem also. On Friday night he pulled down 4 rebounds in his 13 minutes, which shows how he can be useful. His offensive potential could also be a huge boost to the team, but he needs to be more consistent in his output to be trusted. Jovic elevating his play can unlock a lot for the Miami Heat, and they will need that if they want to win on Monday night.
