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Las Vegas Raiders OC Chip Kelly.
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ offense finally came alive in Week 9 in the 30-29 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. While the offense has been at fault for many of the team’s losses this season, this loss is more on the defense.
However, that doesn’t mean the group is perfect. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly occasionally puts in a good playcall, but far too often the Raiders lack creativity. Even with the strong game in Week 9, Las Vegas has the fourth-worst scoring offense in the NFL.
Kelly has a lot of experience and is widely regarded as a strong offensive mind, but the Raiders’ offense has been lackluster from a playcalling perspective. This is something that the Raiders and people around the NFL can’t understand, according to The Athletic’s Mike Silver.
“Before Sunday, the Raiders ranked 30th in yards per game and 31st in points, and their effort against the Chiefs — three first downs, 95 total yards — was almost too putrid to be believed,” Silver wrote. “That Carroll, one of the most accomplished coaches of his generation, entrusted the Las Vegas offense to Kelly seems to have been a massive whiff. Coaches and talent evaluators, both inside the Raiders’ facility and around the league, have been perplexed by the lack of creativity and production.”
Is Kelly Grossly Overpaid?
Kelly came back to the NFL after nearly a decade away. It’s not a surprise that it’s taking him some time to readjust to the NFL.
That said, the Raiders should’ve taken that into account before they made him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL. Silver suggested that Kelly is one of the most overpaid people in the entire league and called out owner Mark Davis for throwing money at the coach.
“That put the onus on perhaps the NFL’s most overpaid performer of 2025: offensive coordinator Chip Kelly,” Silver wrote. “In February the former Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers head coach, who’d spent the previous seven season in the college ranks, left his job as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator for the same role in Las Vegas — and it wasn’t hard to figure out why.
“Though apparently bidding against no one, Davis made Kelly the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator with an annual average salary of $6 million. Remember ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ of ‘70s TV fame? Kelly isn’t capable of lifting cars or running 60 miles per hour; his true strength seems to lie in the power of persuasion.”
Will Kelly Be Brought Back if Offense Doesn’t Improve?
At this point, it’s clear that Davis isn’t too concerned with throwing away money to make changes to the coaching staff. Firing Kelly would cost him a lot, but he’ll likely support whatever head coach Pete Carroll wants to do.
The Raiders’ offense has to be better. It’s not a great unit, but there is talent. Geno Smith has regressed, Ashton Jeanty has underperformed and the offensive line seems to have regressed from last season. Kelly needs to fix those problems if he wants to prove to the Raiders that he deserves to be back for another season.
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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