Jul 24, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly during training camp at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Why the Raiders’ Offense Still Can’t Get It Together

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Ezekiel Trezevant | Last updated Nov 9, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders' offense has left much to be desired this season, as injuries, poor coaching and poor execution have led to a disappointing start for the Silver and Black. Still, the Raiders have reason to believe the unit will figure things out soon.

Talented Raiders

There is no way to make the Raiders' 2-7 start on the season better than what it is, but there are players who are excelling in their own right. After weeks of playing without Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, the Raiders recently had both return to the starting lineup.

Las Vegas' offense has struggled for much of this season for various reasons. Raiders' Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly recently explained how different things are with both tight ends in the mix. Las Vegas' offense is largely built around Bowers and Meyers.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Yeah, they're both really good tight ends. But I think your use of personnel really depends on what defenses you're going against and what that elicits from defenses. So, sometimes you say, 'Hey, we should be in a lot more 12,' well if they put a different look on the field, when you probably don't want to be in 12, you want to be in 11," Kelly said.

“So, you're trying to figure out how do they deploy their defensive guys based upon what you deploy. Because they don't have to play what we want them to play. Like we can't call Vance [Joseph] and say, 'Hey, when we play this, can you do this for us?'

That doesn't work that way. So, I think each week will change, because every opponent is different. So the fact that we have two - we've always felt like we have two number one tight ends in Mike [Mayer] and Brock [Bowers] is a good deal. But how we use them, how we deploy them each week will really depend on who our opponent is."

This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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