Published Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025 | 4:39 p.m.
Updated Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025 | 6:50 p.m.
Add a complete collapse to the list of ways the Raiders have found to lose games this season.
After getting bullied two weeks ago against the Chargers and blown out last week against the Commanders, the Raiders did most of the damage to themselves against the Bears Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium.
Las Vegas allowed an 11-play, 69-yard touchdown drive over five minutes late in the fourth quarter to fall 25-24 to Chicago for its third consecutive defeat.
“The game came down to, we had to make a stop on the last drive,” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said in his postgame news conference. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done.”
The Bears’ offense was inefficient for the first three quarters but came alive just enough in the fourth quarter. Veteran running back D’Andre Swift got to the edge for a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 1:34 remaining that wound up the game winner.
The Raiders nearly clawed their way back up by getting into field-goal range in the final minute, but veteran kicker Daniel Carlson couldn’t be the savior.
The Bears’ Josh Blackwell blocked a 54-yard field goal attempt from Carlson to secure victory for the away team.
“Since field goals were invented, you have to get the guy on the edge,” Carroll said. “We didn’t get him. It’s tough to come in here twice for our fans and not come out with wins. We really set our sights on getting this thing started today.”
But about half the fans in attendance were ecstatic. In stark contrast to the Week 2 home debut against the Chargers, the Raiders didn’t have much of a homefield advantage as far the crowd split.
Orange and blue were everywhere and the visiting contingent went wild as the players ran towards the stands behind their bench to celebrate following the blocked field.
Raiders’ faithful, meanwhile, headed for the exits.
“We’re really close,” Raiders’ edge rusher Maxx Crosby said. “We’re right there. It came down to the last play. We’ve got to find a way to not make it so hard on ourselves. That’s the only thing we can do it. It freaking hurts. It sucks. I hate losing. Everyone in this locker room hates losing. We’ve got to find a way to win.”
Crosby had his best game of the season that included his first career interception — on a pass he batted down himself at the line of scrimmage — to go with three tackles for loss, three passes defensed and a forced fumble.
There were plenty of flashes of brilliance from the Raiders’ offense too.
Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty had a breakout performance with 155 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns on 23 touches.
A matchup with the league’s worst rush defense couldn’t have come at a better time as new coach Pete Carroll and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly finally got to see the run-first philosophy they’ve preached for months surface.
Jeanty had a league-wide Week 4 high of 138 rushing yards. In total, Las Vegas had 31 carries for 240 yards.
“It was all right, I guess,” Jeanty said. “To me, it’s all about winning and not personal performance but team success.”
Veteran offseason free-agent signing Raheem Mostert was as lethal as Jeanty in his first limited action with four rushing attempts for 62 yards.
Jeanty had the longest run, though, with a 64-yard trot down the sideline late in the second quarter where he broke a shoestring tackle attempt from Chicago safety Kevin Byard.
“I’ve got confidence in myself in open space against anybody,” Jeanty said.
The rest of Las Vegas’ offense didn’t excel as much despite outgaining Chicago 357-271 in total yardage and averaging 7.1 yards per play to the visitors’ 4.2 yards per play.
The production wound up useless because the Raiders made too many mistakes throughout. Quarterback Geno Smith struggled for the third straight game, throwing three interceptions and finishing with only 117 yards on 14-for-21 passing.
He had a pair of short touchdown passes to Jeanty, but the rookie running back was wide open on both of them. Otherwise, Smith too often threw into coverage and felt the consequences.
Byard intercepted two of his passes, while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson nabbed the other. Smith now leads the NFL with seven interceptions on the season.
“There’s a lot of things I’m going to have to fix within myself,” Smith said. “That’s the reality. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’ve got to be a lot better. I am a lot better but the guy I’m supposed to be hasn’t shown up yet. I take pride in fixing this stuff.”
Smith’s final interception came on the first play of the second half with all three other Raider giveaways occurring in the first half. Jeanty lost a fumble in between Smith’s first two interceptions.
Las Vegas was able to overcome all the miscues, taking the lead when Jeanty scored his first receiving touchdown with eight seconds remaining the first half.
The Raiders led for all but seven minutes for the rest of the game after that, but couldn’t come through when it mattered most.
They got down to the 7-yard line on their second-to-last offensive possession, before the blocked field goal, for a chance to all but seal the game. But Jeanty was then stuffed twice and fellow rookie Dont’e Thornton dropped a catchable but slightly off-target pass from Smith at the 2-yard line to force the Raiders to settle for a 29-yard Carlson field goal to go up 24-19 with 6:45 to play.
Bears second-year quarterback Caleb Williams and new coach Ben Johnson emerged from there and found a previously elusive rhythm to steal the victory, marching down the field to set up Swift’s score.
Johnson finished with 212 passing yards while completing 22 of 37 attempts with one touchdown to Bishop Gorman graduate Rome Odunze, who had four catches for 69 yards.
Chicago’s passing game wasn’t dynamic, but it was a heck of a lot better than Las Vegas’ errant effort.
“I’m putting us in tough situations over and over again,” Smith said. “That’s on me. I’m not going to look anywhere else but to me when it comes to that.”
