That humbling 41-24 loss to the Washington Commanders was a gut punch for Las Vegas. With QB Jayden Daniels sidelined, a reconfigured Washington offense was cooking, putting up a staggering 201 rushing yards. Look, the numbers speak for themselves. The Commanders’ offense averaged 7.4 yards per play, a full 1.7 yards more than the Raiders’ 5.7. Carroll, in his signature style, took the full hit. “I have to do a better job,” he said. “It was all three phases, so it’s me.”

In the days since the loss, the spotlight has swung hard to the O-line, a unit Carroll himself is now hinting at overhauling. He was asked directly about potential changes, and his answer was a mix of frustration and guarded optimism. He said, “We’re working on some stuff. We’re going to want to see JPJ come back to action and get back involved.”

And this, right here, is the rub. The name JPJ—Jackson Powers-Johnson— is a flickering beacon of hope for a unit that’s in dire need of a spark. The’ young offensive lineman, now entering his second season, has already shown he can step into the fire at left guard, center, or right guard, wherever the team needs him. And he’s got the stats to back up that versatility, allowing just 2 sacks and 23 pressures on 956 snaps last season.

His 70.4 run-blocking grade whispers of a potential anchor for a rushing attack that desperately needs one. This is about a franchise pinning its hopes on a kid who, just a few months ago, was serving as an ambassador for the team in Australia. It’s the kind of charming, off-field detail that makes you remember these are human beings trying to fix human-sized problems. Although three words. That’s all it took.

Carroll’s brutal honesty meets the Raiders’ painful reality

“They whipped us.” he continued. “We’ve got to get off the football better and make more of the running game,” he continued, “There’s not enough happening there to act on the play pass game, and we’re just not getting enough,” Carroll admitted his young guys aren’t ready yet, which means the guys he has, have to be better. He’s putting it on them. All of them. And in a way, that’s where the confession truly lands. 

The match was an exercise in pure physicality, a fact not lost on defensive star Maxx Crosby. “We just didn’t tackle very well,” Crosby said after the game. “We just didn’t do our job.”

When a star player says that, you know things are bad. The run game was a ghost, with the Raiders managing a meager 93 total rushing yds. The special teams? Another story entirely. A 90-yard punt return from the Commanders’ Jaylin Lane felt like a taunt.

The Commanders physically wore them down, and that kind of exhaustion leads to big, backbreaking plays like the 60-yard TD run by Jeremy McNichols that sealed the game for Washington (Daniels potentially getting replaced). That’s just a simple fact of football. A few days ago, Dan Quinn got his guys ready to go (what was the contact between the HC and backup QB). They showed up and physically outmatched the Raiders in a loss that felt more like an indictment than a setback. Now, it’s Carroll’s turn to do a better job.