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(Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
The Las Vegas Raiders will look to get back in the win column and attempt to end their 2025 NFL season on a positive note when they face the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football” in Week 11.
Dallas’ Achilles heel this season has been its defense, but before the NFL trade deadline, the Cowboys added players like Logan Wilson and Quinnen Williams. As a result, the Raiders will face a new-look group.
Ahead of the game on November 17, Las Vegas running back Ashton Jeanty spoke with reporters and was asked about facing the Cowboys’ defensive unit, as he will be looking to take advantage of any holes in their run defense.
“Yeah, [the Cowboys] got some great players,” Jeanty said on November 11. “They just added Quinnen Williams in the interior. So, I’m sure that’ll level up their front. And, just a good all-around team. But, there’s definitely places where we can attack them and make great plays.”
Williams’ arrival in Dallas will have a significant impact on Jeanty and the Raiders’ ability to establish the run game against the Cowboys. Although Jeanty spoke about the defense as a whole, he
was asked about Williams, who will look to stuff the opposing team’s run game.
“Just another guy in the interior to be disruptive. I mean, he’s a game wrecker. So, we got to be ready for him. We just prepping kind of for whoever’s going to be out there. Obviously they’ve made some changes, so we’ll just prepare for that.”
It will be interesting to see how the new additions impact the defense. However, there’s a possibility that Jeanty has a major game against Dallas. The Cowboys are in the bottom 10 in rushing yards allowed (1,287), per
Pro Football Reference. Moreover, they are in the bottom 10 in rushing touchdowns allowed (11) and in rushing yards per attempt (4.8).
Despite the Cowboys’ ability to give up yards in the run game, Las Vegas might not be able to take advantage of this weakness due to a missing piece in their offensive line. The Raiders were finding success on the ground in Week 10 until starting right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson exited the game.
After his departure, Las Vegas struggled to maintain its running game. Following the contest, head coach Pete Carroll confirmed that Powers-Johnson had sustained a significant ankle injury and would be sidelined
for “a while.”
Now, the situation appears more serious than initially thought. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Powers-Johnson is being placed on Injured Reserve, potentially ending his season.
It’s still unclear what exactly occurred, but the Raiders are hoping Powers-Johnson’s Achilles tendon is unharmed. He’s faced challenges this season, yet he could be the team’s top run-blocking offensive lineman.
Additionally, he’s a young player who needs valuable reps even if the Raiders are having a losing season. Losing him is a major setback for an offensive line already missing starting left tackle Kolton Miller for the remainder of the season.
The Cleveland Browns are off to a 2-7 start, and fans have called for head coach Kevin Stefanski to be fired.
However, it is unlikely that Stefanski will be fired this season. Meanwhile, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot revealed that he is likely to return in 2026. General manager Andrew Berry is also expected back, according to Cabot.
“The truth is, we have no idea what they are actually really thinking,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “I know going into it, Jimmy Haslam has indicated, I believe at the owner’s meetings, that he wasn’t holding Kevin and Andrew’s feet to the fire because this was the year they were trying to figure out what they had in one of these rookie quarterbacks. Or, at least at that point, they knew it was going to be one rookie quarterback.
“I don’t think there was this sense of ‘win or else’ this season. It was about fact-finding and figuring out what they had and helping them inform what to do in the 2026 draft. I just don’t think this was a year where the expectations were super, crazy high. But, still, you have to see certain things from your football team. … I do think that Jimmy believes in continuity and alignment in his organization. And, he knows that this is a challenging year with all of the rookies. In a perfect world, he’s going to want to try to maintain that continuity. And, see if they can’t get this thing on the right track with a new quarterback they will probably draft in 2026.
Cabot believes Haslam still has confidence in Berry and Stefanski, and both could very well return next season with a new quarterback.
Cleveland has struggled this season as the Browns are off to a 2-7 start and coming off a disappointing 27-20 road loss to the New York Jets.
Following the loss, Stefanski made it clear that the goal and focus are on turning it around and finding ways to win.
“Obviously frustrated, disappointed on that result yesterday,” Stefanski said on Monday. “And we’re spending time right now watching it with the players and trying to learn from that. You know, hard to win on the road, and certainly hard when you do some of the things we did in that ball game. But we’re committed to this thing, and we’ll just find ways to get better in all areas and we’ll go from there. Big division game at our place this week.”
Stefanski believes the Browns have to be better in all three phases of the game. Despite that being an issue all season, he has full confidence in his group.
The Browns will host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a game Cleveland is a 7.5-point underdog.
Although Stefanski hasn’t been fired, and there are no signs he will be, his name has come up for other jobs.
The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday after a loss to the Chicago Bears. Following Daboll’s firing, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky links Stefanski to the Giants.
“The No. 1 name that I would pay attention to if I were the Giants is what happens in Cleveland with Kevin Stefanski,” Orlovsky said on Monday on NFL Live. “If I could hand-pick a guy, it would be Stefanski. He’s an outstanding coach, two-time Coach of the Year.
“I understand people in Cleveland are like, ‘This guy can’t coach’. But there’s a lot of empirical data that would say otherwise. … I would pay attention to see what’s going on in Cleveland.”
Stefanski has been the Browns’ head coach since 2020 and has led them to the playoffs twice.