Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll lays it all on the table regarding the difficult task at hand
Playing in the AFC West is not for the weak. Any given year, you will have three of the teams make the postseason. Last year, it was all but the Las Vegas Raiders, as the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos both made big-time jumps. Next year, the Raiders are trying to be on the […]
Playing in the AFC West is not for the weak. Any given year, you will have three of the teams make the postseason. Last year, it was all but the Las Vegas Raiders, as the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos both made big-time jumps.
Next year, the Raiders are trying to be on the same trajectory, or maybe even past that trajectory, as those teams. As new head coach, and former Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll has said — they are trying to win right now. They don't want to go through a rebuild. And, when you look at some of what he has done throughout his coaching career, he does immediately turn programs around, and it usually doesn't take much time at all.
He took the Seahawks from being what they were to being Super Bowl champions against the Denver Broncos and even going to another Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. However, I wouldn't expect it to look as easy with the Raiders for Carroll and John Spytek. This is the AFC West, where you have the dynasty of the Kansas City Chiefs, and two other teams trying to do whatever it takes to take down the dynasty.
Playing in the AFC West is hard, but it's what will make the Raiders better.
"Yeah, to do great things, you have to beat great teams," Pete Carroll said of the AFC West. "You have to and you have to be willing to face that and take on the challenges. If you can't do that, you're going to be ordinary. And so this division has just made that more obvious than ever. And to go against the great coaching background of Andy [Reid] and what Sean [Payton] has done and what Jim Harbaugh has stood for over the years, or wherever he's gone, to be successful, that's what you should expect.
"If you want to be great, you've got to go against the great ones, and you've got to beat the great ones. And so that's, that's just part of the calling area, and it just built into it, so I'm not worried about that one bit. And I'm not worried about them. We'll be concerned about what we're doing and how we're going to put our team together, and then we'll see how far we can take it."
He knows what he's in for, and luckily for the Raiders, they hired a man who loves a challenge. Back when the Seahawks were winning a ton when he was the head coach, the NFC West was similar. The Seahawks used to battle with the San Francisco 49ers, and of course, the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams always hung around. And coaching at USC, too — Carroll isn't new to any of this.
If the Raiders can win the games they are supposed to win, and take care of the AFC West, at least half of those games, because they are sometimes toss-up games, then they should be in good shape to fight for the top of the division or the wildcard spot. But, as we all know, that's much easier said than done.
The Chiefs are still going to be a good team despite being exposed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. They still have Patrick Mahomes, and the issue they did have at left tackle will likely be addressed even after they signed Jaylon Moore. The Broncos are adding more weapons around Bo Nix, and the Chargers have massively improved their offensive line around Justin Herbert.
It's going to be tough in 2025.
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The Raiders need to get this right regardless.
