Pete Carroll Explains Curious Raiders' Move

The Las Vegas Raiders' two-game losing streak has already raised several questions for Pete Carroll and his coaching staff.

Raiders' Decision Came Back to Bite Them

After entering their Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers without one of their starting offensive linemen, Las Vegas entered Week 3 in a similar situation. However, Jackson Powers-Johnson not starting against the Washington Commanders was a conscious decision by Carroll.

Powers-Johnson was healthy in Week 3 but did not start. Following the Raiders' loss to the Washington Commanders, Pete Carroll elaborated on his decision to not start Powers-Johnson against the Commanders.

"It was a short week, and he just got back. We'll give Alex a chance to go again and see how that goes. He was available to play, but we just decided [that] for the continuity of coming out last week, we might be a little bit smoother, and we didn't hit any of these days this week, and so it just felt like this was a better choice to go that way. The competition goes on," Carroll said.

Powers-Johnson's replacement, Alex Cappa has done the best he can. However, it was not enough, as the Raiders' offense has taken a step back since Powers-Johnson's injury. Las Vegas' Week 1 win was far from pretty, but the offense was undeniabily better than Weeks 2 and 3.

Powers-Johnson fluctuated between being a starter and a reserve player during training camp, before officially being named the team's starting guard in Week 1. Las Vegas' offense has not been the same without him.

On Monday, Carroll explained that he and the Raiders' coaching staff are looking forward to Powers-Johnson's return. It appears he will return to starting lineup, as Carroll confirmed what is very clear. The Raiders' offensive line needs Powers-Johnson.

"We want to see JPJ [Jackson Powers-Johnson] come back to action and get back involved. In all phases of it, we got to get off the football better and make more of the running game. There's not enough happening there to act on the play pass game, and we're just not getting enough. So, we just got to keep working it. We got the guys we got, and we need to keep developing and keep building on it," Carroll said.