Looking back at the 2024 Las Vegas Raiders, one of the major reasons to point out for their struggles is how badly they lost the turnover battle.
Last season, the Raiders finished with the second-worst turnover differential in the league at -16 (13 takeaways, 29 turnovers). They also finished tied for the second-most turnovers given up in the NFL. The combination of getting too careless with the football on offense, while not making splash plays on defense, hamstrung the Raiders’ ability to put points on the board and keep their opponents off of it.
It is one of the litany of issues facing new head coach Pete Carroll in his first season with the Raiders, but it is a problem he is seeking to face head-on.
Carroll has been hammering the point home that the football matters on both sides.
“The first thing I said to them in the first football meeting that we had was, it’s all about the ball. And today I started this last meeting that we had, it’s all about the ball. It’s about how you emphasize it. And it’s not just that you emphasize it, it’s how well you can emphasize it in creative manners. It’s like when, if you’re a teacher and you give this great lecture, you think everybody should learn what you wanted them to learn,” Carroll said.
Keeping the ball on offense is going to be vital for the Raiders in 2025.
Gardner Minshew threw for 10 interceptions last season in as many games played, but his replacement in Geno Smith finished with the third-most interceptions with 15. Granted, Smith’s old team in the Seattle Seahawks had issues on the offensive line and running game, but the number of turnovers is sure to give some Raiders fans pause. That said, the Raiders have added reinforcements that should help the offense considerably, from Ashton Jeanty boosting the running game to drafting new blood for the receiver corps and offensive line.
Another aspect Carroll has stressed turnovers to is on defense, which explained why defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s group looked more aggressive in playing on the ball during minicamp.
“On the other side of the ball, in a mode in this off season where you can’t be physical, you can’t hit guys, you can’t tackle anybody, you have to use your imagination. And so that’s a sight in the football when you’re attacking it and showing that you sight it and the gestures that you make to show us that you had a shot to punch at the football or take a shot at it, all of those things are the things we value really highly,” Carroll added.
When training camp kicks off, Carroll will get to see how much his message has impacted his roster.
