The Las Vegas Raiders suffered their fourth consecutive loss, falling 33-16 to the Dallas Cowboys on November 17 at Allegiant Stadium, as their struggles in the 2025 NFL season continue.
Offense continues to be a significant issue for the Raiders, who have scored more than 20 points in only one of their last four games. Their lone touchdown against Dallas came late in the fourth quarter, as most of their drives stalled and yielded only field goals.
Defensively, the Raiders were unable to contain the Cowboys either. A 21-point performance in the second quarter proved decisive, as Dallas scored 12 points in the other three quarters.
Moreover, the one player on the Cowboys who was terrorizing the Raiders’ defense was George Pickens. The Dallas star wideout recorded nine receptions for 144 receiving yards and one touchdown. After the loss, Raiders head coach Pete Carroll didn’t hold back that Pickens was a handful for their defense.
“They have a really good offense and they do a nice job with it,” Carroll told reporters postgame. “Obviously, Pickens was really a problem for us, and it wasn’t just when he caught it. It was his after-catch work that was impressive; he was able to run through us like that.
“I’m just surprised we weren’t able to stop him, because we knew he was a good player. We went in to defend him, rolled to him, covered him, doubled him a couple times, and he still came through. He had a heck of a night.”
Raiders’ Struggles This Season Have No End
Following the defeat to the Cowboys, Raiders standout Maxx Crosby addressed the ongoing challenges that have plagued the team throughout the season, contributing to their 2-8 record.
“We just aren’t good enough right now,” Crosby told reporters. “You know what I mean? There [are] a lot of issues, and we’ve got to find ways to get better, find solutions instead of just doing the same thing and expecting a different result. We’ve got to find ways to improve, and it takes everybody.
“It’s not about pointing a finger at anyone. I point at myself first. I look at myself to find ways to improve every day, and it’s got to be everybody in the building. We’ve got to find solutions. That’s it.”
The Raiders Abandoned the Run Against the Cowboys
While the defense had its issues, some of it is due to their inability to stop Pickens; their offense didn’t even utilize one of their star players, Ashton Jeanty. When the Raiders picked Jeanty sixth overall in this year’s NFL Draft, many expected the rookie to play a bigger role than he’s shown so far.
After a puzzling approach to play-calling throughout the game that limited Jeanty to six carries for just seven yards, Ryan McFadden of ESPN didn’t hold back in criticizing Las Vegas, while also trying to make sense of the team’s strategy against Dallas.
“Ashton Jeanty’s second carry of the night resulted in an 11-yard gain at the 13:29 mark of the second quarter,” McFadden wrote. “The rookie running back didn’t receive another handoff until the start of the third quarter. Jeanty had two carries in the first half and finished with six attempts for seven yards.
“The Raiders played from behind for the majority of the night, but their decision to abandon the run so early was questionable. That has been an issue for the majority of the season. At the same time, it might have been a sign of the Raiders’ lack of confidence in their banged-up offensive line.”
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