The Las Vegas Raiders made a swift and stark move on Sunday night. After another grim offensive showing in a 24-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns, the team fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly just 11 games into his first season. The record sits at 2-9. The scoring has dried up. The patience is gone.

Head coach Pete Carroll put it plainly in a statement: “I spoke with Chip Kelly earlier this evening and informed him of his release as offensive coordinator of the Raiders. I would like to thank Chip for his service and wish him all the best in the future.”

Why the Raiders made the call now

Sunday’s game was a breaking point. The Browns lived in the backfield, sacking quarterback Geno Smith 10 times and pressuring him on 23 dropbacks. That is the most single-game pressures any NFL quarterback has faced this season. In simple terms: the Raiders could not block it, handle it, or fix it.

Carroll’s postgame description captured the mood: “(If you don’t score, you can’t win) And we couldn’t score. We had opportunities… but the QB was under duress the entire time.”

“How do you hire the highest-paid OC and score only 15 a game?”

A bottom-tier offense that never clicked

From Week 1, the offense lagged. Through 11 games, Las Vegas is tied for last in the NFL at 15.0 points per game. The unit is 30th in total yards at 268.9 per game and 31st in rushing at 79.5. Those rankings speak to problems across the board: run-game push, protection, and finishing drives.

The quarterback hit count tells the same story. Smith has been sacked 41 times and is tied for the most interceptions in the league with 13. That is a brutal combination for any team, let alone one trying to install a new attack under a new staff.

The Chip Kelly gamble that didn’t pay off

Kelly, 61, arrived in February with a big name and an even bigger price tag. His reported $6 million salary made him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. He was fresh off helping Ohio State win the 2024 national championship as offensive coordinator. He previously ran NFL teams as head coach in Philadelphia and San Francisco. Before that, he left UCLA after six uneven seasons to take the Buckeyes job.

On paper, the hire promised spark and speed. In reality, the results never matched the resume. Kelly’s system didn’t unlock the run game, didn’t protect the passer enough, and didn’t cash in the few chances it had. In the end, the numbers forced the decision.

Kelly took the high road on his way out. “I’m a huge, huge Geno Smith fan. That was one of the best parts of this experience for me, working with Geno and those guys every day… But hey, we got to win. I get it.”

“Ten sacks in one game — that’s not NFL football.”

Pete Carroll’s urgency in Year 1 with the Raiders

Carroll, 74 and in his first season running the Raiders, is not standing still. Earlier in November, he also dismissed special teams coordinator Tom McMahon. Now the offense is getting a reset, too. Two in-season staff changes signal a coach trying to fix problems fast, not later.

There is risk here. Changing coordinators midyear can bring fresh energy, but it can also bring new growing pains. Play calls change. Terminology shifts. Players must adapt on the fly. The bet is that any disruption is worth it if it lifts the floor of a unit that’s been stuck at the bottom.

“If you keep swapping play-callers, when do you change the plan?”

Geno Smith’s strain and the line under the microscope

Smith has taken a beating. Forty-one sacks is a heavy load through 11 games. Being tied for the league lead in interceptions adds to the pressure. Some of this is protection. Some is timing. Some is game state, as the Raiders often chase the score. But the end result is simple: too many hits, too few points.

That is why the Browns game mattered so much. Ten sacks in a single afternoon is a loud message. It says the current design and answers were not working against good fronts. It forced the front office and Carroll to act now rather than wait for January.

A pattern in Vegas: back-to-back midseason OC firings

This is not new for the Raiders. In 2024, the team fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy after nine games. Now, in 2025, Kelly exits after 11. Back-to-back midseason departures at the same job underline a larger truth: Las Vegas is searching for an offensive identity and can’t find one.

That lack of stability can stall growth. It can slow the development of the quarterback and the line. It can also make it harder to build a style that the locker room trusts. But staying put with poor production is not a plan either. The Raiders chose action.

The road ahead: what the Raiders need now

Step one is finding a voice to guide the offense for the rest of the season. That person must simplify the plan, protect the quarterback, and lean into what this roster can actually do well. With six games left, the goals are basic: cut the sacks, run it a bit better, and stop giving the ball away.

Step two is bigger. The Raiders must decide what they want this offense to be in 2026 and beyond. That means aligning the head coach, the next coordinator, and the personnel. It means building around strengths and not forcing a scheme that doesn’t fit. The recent firings — including McMahon on special teams — show the club understands the size of the job.

Bottom line

Chip Kelly’s time in Las Vegas was short and costly. The promise of a high-powered attack never showed up on Sundays. The Browns’ beatdown made it obvious that change could not wait. Now Pete Carroll must steady the ship, protect his quarterback, and rebuild trust in the plan.

The numbers are harsh, but they are also a map. Score more than 15 points per game, protect better than 10 sacks in a day, and the outlook starts to change. That is the task. The next voice in the Raiders’ headset must make it simple, fast, and tough. And it has to start right now.