Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Matt Harmon and writer Charles McDonald discuss what the expectations should be for the Las Vegas Raiders with Pete Carroll at head coach and Geno Smith at quarterback. Hear the full conversation on “Football 301” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly, Las Vegas Raiders, uh, man, I mean, this, this is one of those offenses that I think could be really interesting this year to watch and I think it’s gonna be like a bit of a weird kind of funky offense.
They’re a little bit on my radar, especially from a pass game standpoint.
That they could be one of those football hipsters to like, just because how are they gonna deploy Jack Besh with Jacoby Myers on the field.
We also are we gonna get a lot of slot stuff from Brock Bowers?
Are they gonna be more 12 personnel heavy?
I do think they are going to be better this year.
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I think they’re gonna be more buttoned up, they’re gonna be more it’d be hard to be less professional than they were last year, but they’re, they’re gonna be more buttoned up with Pete Carroll at the helm, but like, how many wins is that actually going to translate to cause I’m very excited about two of the other teams in the division and the other one, the third team there is the damn Kansas City Chiefs who go to the Super Bowl every other year.
Yeah, it, it, it just on its surface it just looks like such a tough division, and I know we’ve said that in the past about the AFC West that hasn’t come true, but I mean, I think we have a little bit more proof that this is gonna be one of the tougher divisions in football.
Look at where the Broncos were last year on defense and then some of the upgrades that they’ve made trying to see Andre Greenwell still something left, sign Huonga also from the 49ers.
Like that could be one of the best defenses in the league and then you go look at the Chargers and personnel wise maybe it’s not as strong as Denver is on the player for player front, but for the good chunk of last season, they were one of the best teams in the league until they ran into some tougher offenses at the end of the season.
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Then Kansas City is Kansas City.
So I think if you’re a Raiders fan, probably expecting 7 wins is fair because I do think Geno gives you, gives you, you know, at least a functional floor on offense.
I don’t know really what the ceiling is.
We’re gonna have to see how Chip Kelly’s play calling shakes out, how some of the receiving options shake out.
Geno, the offensive lineman, there’s still a lot of questions here, but at least you have someone who we saw last year in Seattle and over the past couple of years can give you some good play in tough circumstances, much better coaching lineup here.
Much better coaching lineup here.
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in the AFC West now, but with Pete Carroll, let’s talk about once we get better than six wins here, what’s the ceiling of this and, and, can they be better than one of these other teams, like Los Angeles or like Denver in their own division?
I think that’s sort of up for debate.