Raiders' offense struggles under Chip Kelly amid injuries and setbacks

For his part, Kelly isn't making excuses for an offense that through 10 weeks ranked 30th in total yards (272.2 average), 29th in rushing (87.4), 27th in passing (185.2) and 31st in scoring (15.4).

“It’s just the NFL,” Kelly said. “I think everybody understands that. I don’t think there’s anybody in the league right now that hasn’t lost players that were starters for them. That’s just the nature of the game we play, and you have to be able to adjust and adapt. Your depth is going to get tested at all times, so you just have to adjust to it. You don’t sit there and say, ‘Boy, I wish we had him.’”

One of Pete Carroll's first acts upon becoming Las Vegas' coach in January was to hire Kelly, who had just been the offensive coordinator for Ohio State's national championship team. His reported $6 million contract is the highest for an NFL OC.

So much was expected from Kelly to improve an offense that also ranked toward the bottom in multiple categories last season.

Not expected? A knee injury to tight end Brock Bowers limited him in three games and took him out of three others, and offensive linemen Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson landed on injured reserve with ankle injuries.

The Raiders also had higher hopes for veteran quarterback Geno Smith, but his 12 interceptions entering the weekend were second only to Miami's Tua Tagovailoa.

“I’ve got to cut it loose," Smith said. “Just don’t think too much. Just go out there and cut it loose, play your game. Protect the football, first and foremost. The last eight games of the season, I want to be the best in the league in terms of protecting the football.”

Las Vegas also hasn't been able to get its running game going despite taking Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty with the sixth pick in this year's draft. Much of Jeanty's struggles trace back to the Raiders failing to adequately address their offensive line issues in the offseason.

So there is much working against Kelly that is largely out of his control and he can only do so much with what he's given. But it's also difficult to find much evidence in which he elevated the offense.

"He’s working hard at it, and he’s working with the guys he’s got and trying to make the very most of it,” Carroll said.

Perhaps Monday night's home game against Dallas will be an opportunity for Kelly to get the offense going in the right direction. The Cowboys allow 30.8 points per game, next to last in the league.

But help is on the way. The Cowboys traded for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson, capturing the Raiders' attention that this might not be the easy-to-attack Dallas “D” other teams have taken advantage of this season.

Dallas likely will focus its attention on Bowers and put the onus on a Raiders receiving group weakened by the trade of Jakobi Meyers just before the deadline. In the Raiders' first game without Meyers, they had trouble getting anything going in a 10-7 loss at Denver on Nov. 6.

“There’s a difference in terms of who you have out wide,” Kelly said. “Obviously, in the offensive line, there’s been some shuffling going on because you lost Kolton and then you lost JPJ, so just moving those guys around. I think our guys that have stepped up have done a nice job, but that’s an ongoing process, and that’s what happens in this league.”

It can be an unforgiving league. The Raiders stand at 2-7, but special teams blunders cost them three legitimate chances at victories, which resulted in the firing of coordinator Tom McMahon on Nov. 7.

A much more effective offense, however, also changes the narrative of this season.

No matter how the Raiders got to this point, it caught Carroll by surprise.

“How do I handle it? Not very well," Carroll said. “It’s been crappy, and this is not what I expected to happen. I didn’t feel that we would be this far behind the start of the season. We’re just trying to keep driving the messages home and trying to get better each week and do some things that we can build from.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL