Las Vegas Raiders played their best against the AFC’s elite this season

It’s easy to forget that the dumpster fire of a season that was 2025 for the Las Vegas Raiders started off with such promise.

Geno Smith threw for 362 yards, including eight completions for 103 yards to star tight end Brock Bowers before he was injured, as the Raiders picked up a stunning 20-13 road win in nasty conditions at New England.

It was as hopeful a start to the Smith and Pete Carroll era as fans could have possibly hoped for and it was only four months ago.

Yet it seems like ages have passed.

Carroll was fired after a 3-14 campaign, and Smith is all but certain to follow him out the door once the new league year begins in March.

The game against New England was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable season that netted the Raiders the No. 1 pick in the draft.

But it was also a game that showed this version of the Raiders was capable of playing up to their level of competition. The Raiders not only beat the Patriots, but played Denver close on two occasions this season.

Those two teams will play Sunday in the AFC championship game and a trip to Super Bowl 60.

Early promise

It’s a reminder of how thin the margins can be in the NFL. The Patriots’ loss to the Raiders was one of three New England suffered all season.

That game marked probably the worst performance of the season for New England’s MVP candidate quarterback, Drake Maye.

The Raiders defense showed a great deal of promise in sacking Maye four times and intercepting a pass while limiting him to a 30-for-46 effort, his fourth-worst completion percentage (65.2) of the season.

Maye was also held to 6.2 yards per attempt, a season low.

Rocky Mountain Low

The Raiders had even more success against Bo Nix in their first meeting of the season.

Nix, who is injured and won’t play this week, was held to a 54.2 quarterback rating during a 10-7 Broncos’ victory in a Thursday night game in which the Raiders had several chances to win.

The Raiders had a touchdown taken off the board as a result of an offensive interference call and several key sacks in situations that could have resulted in points. Denver’s go-ahead field goal was set up by a blocked punt, and the Raiders missed a 48-yard attempt in suboptimal conditions that could have tied the game late in the fourth quarter.

In short, the Raiders had plenty of chances to win that game.

“When the Raiders stop beating the Raiders, we’ll go out there and we can beat anybody in the league,” Smith said at the time.

The results against some of the league’s best teams seem to back up that claim, at least on the surface.

Denver had a bit more comfortable 24-17 win in the rematch at Allegiant Stadium in December, but the final score was still close as Kenny Pickett came on in relief of an injured Geno Smith to lead two late scoring drives.

Raiders stand tall

In three games against the two teams playing for the AFC’s spot in the Super Bowl, the Raiders were cumulatively outscored just 47-44.

They actually held their own against several of the last teams standing in the playoffs.

The Raiders lost 25-24 to the Bears on Sept. 28 in a game in which a last-second field-goal attempt was blocked, preventing them from improving to 2-2 at the time.

Chicago was just eliminated last week in a heartbreaker against the Rams.

The Texans also lost last week in a postseason game against the Patriots despite narrowly holding on for a 23-21 home win over the Raiders in Houston on Dec. 21.

Jacksonville, which also lost in the playoffs, left Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 2 with a thrilling 30-29 overtime victory after surviving a potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt as the clock expired on the extra session.

The Raiders certainly hope some of those close games against several of the league’s elite teams can help the young players gain valuable experience to help take them to the next level with a new coach and presumably a new quarterback.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.