The Las Vegas Raiders are on a bye this week, and it's much needed. Not only do they need it to recover from injuries, and they will with no practice this week, but they need it to kind of regroup a bit. The Raiders have no identity, they don't have a certain style of football that they play, and this week could help them establish that the rest of the way.
They are sitting at 2-7 now after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and have lost five in a row. After the loss, head coach Antonio Pierce not only offensive coordinator Luke Getsy but some of his staff, too, like quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg.
They decided to make Scott Turner the interim offensive coordinator, and brought his father, Norv Turner, a former Raiders head coach, as an offensive assistant.
So, what are the team's thoughts this week going into a much-needed bye week? What are they feeling? They know what they are.
“We’re that same team that beat the Kansas City Chiefs..that beat the Baltimore Ravens. If we can come up with the details to do our job, I have no doubts about what we’ll do in this next stretch of the season," cornerback Nate Hobbs said in the locker room on Monday.
The Raiders have a very tough stretch of games coming up. As things currently stand, they have the No. 5 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. But, with games against the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and Los Angeles Chargers still to come, they could easily win one or two more games this year, and be in prime position to have a top-three pick in the draft.
So, while the players have that confidence, and they should, that they can get things turned around, it's not looking likely. Instead of the next stretch of the season being about winning games, let's see how they instead embrace each other and find out what the identity of this team will be in 2025.
