The Las Vegas Raiders’ nightmare season hit rock bottom on November 17, as they crumbled 33-16 to the Dallas Cowboys at Allegiant Stadium, marking their fourth straight defeat and plunging them deeper into the abyss of a dismal 2025 NFL campaign.
Offensively, the Raiders remain stuck in neutral, barely scraping together more than 20 points in just one of their last four outings. Against Dallas, their only touchdown came as a garbage-time consolation in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, with most drives sputtering out into field goals that did little to keep pace.
On the defensive side, Las Vegas was equally porous, failing to bottle up the Cowboys’ explosive attack. A brutal 21-point barrage in the second quarter sealed the deal, while Dallas tacked on just 12 more across the other three frames to cruise to victory.
But the real dagger for the Raiders’ D? None other than Cowboys’ superstar wideout George Pickens, who torched them for nine catches, 144 yards, and a touchdown. Postgame, Raiders head coach Pete Carroll didn’t mince words, delivering what felt like a shocking ultimatum in the locker room haze: Pickens had exposed their weaknesses in ways they couldn’t ignore.
“They’ve got a damn good offense over there, and they execute it to perfection,” Carroll fired off to reporters. “Obviously, Pickens was a massive headache for us—and it wasn’t just the grabs. His yards after the catch? Unreal. He bulldozed right through our tackles like we weren’t even there.
“I’m stunned we couldn’t shut him down. We knew he was elite going in—we schemed for him, rolled coverage his way, doubled him up a few times—and he still shredded us. The guy had an absolute monster night.”
Raiders’ Woes Show No Signs of Letting Up With this latest gut-punch dropping them to a woeful 2-8, Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby laid it all out in the locker room, his frustration boiling over as he called for a team-wide wake-up call amid the endless struggles.
“We’re just not cutting it right now,” Crosby admitted bluntly. “You feel me? We’ve got a ton of problems, and we can’t keep spinning our wheels, doing the same old crap and hoping for magic. We’ve gotta dig deep, find real fixes—it starts with every single one of us.
“Ain’t about blaming anybody. I look in the mirror first, always pushing myself to level up daily. But it’s gotta be the whole squad, top to bottom. Solutions, man—that’s what we need. Period.”
Raiders Ditch the Ground Game in Baffling Fashion Against Dallas Sure, the defense got gashed—especially by Pickens—but the offense didn’t help by ignoring one of their prized weapons: rookie sensation Ashton Jeanty. Drafted sixth overall this year, Jeanty was supposed to be a game-changer, yet he’s been criminally underutilized.
In a head-scratching game plan that saw Jeanty bottled up with just six carries for a measly seven yards, ESPN’s Ryan McFadden pulled no punches, ripping into the Raiders’ strategy while breaking down the puzzling abandonment of the run.
“Ashton Jeanty’s second tote of the evening netted 11 yards at the 13:29 mark of the second quarter,” McFadden penned. “The young back didn’t see another handoff until the third quarter kicked off. He finished with a paltry two carries in the first half and six total for seven yards.
“Las Vegas trailed for most of the night, but ditching the run so prematurely? That’s been a season-long red flag. At the end of the day, it screams a lack of faith in their patched-together, injury-riddled O-line.”