Pete Carroll searches for answers as Raiders' dismal season continues

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Pete Carroll, ever the optimist, continues to search for a winning formula for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Nothing has worked so far.

Carroll made two major decisions last month hoping to find a spark for what is now a 2-10 team. He fired special teams coordinator Tom McMahon and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, so there aren't a lot of major moves he can make at the moment.

That leaves Carroll looking for other avenues to success for Las Vegas. But they are going to be hard to find for the rest of this season.

The Raiders are 7 1/2-point home underdogs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, to Denver on Sunday. The rest of the schedule? At Philadelphia and Houston, and then home against the New York Giants and Kansas City.

The Giants also are closing out a rough season, but the Raiders likely will be substantial underdogs in the other three games. But it makes little difference in the big picture — outside of a more favorable draft position — if Las Vegas finishes with two or three victories.

The Raiders' last three-win season occurred in 2014, and the last time they won just two games was in 2006.

To put their dismal season in further context, the Raiders' 14.9 points per game is the third-worst in franchise history. The 2006 team averaged 10.5 points and the 2009 club averaged 12.3.

Carroll and his staff experimented with players on the offensive line in Sunday's 31-14 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers, and it didn't matter. Take away a 65-yard drive in the fourth quarter with the outcome well decided, and the Raiders gained just 91 yards.

The team is paying the price for what appears a subpar draft and disappointing free agent signing period.

“The message (to players) is we’re going to look at the stuff that we did well, that we liked and we can build from,” Carroll said. “We’ll look at the issues that we have to deal with. The balance on offense and running the ball, not being able to get that done. Third downs have been a problem. Show reasons why we keep believing.”

Carroll chooses to look at the positives because it’s in his nature.

He also doesn’t have a choice.

Cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly intercepted a pass near the goal line. It was the third pick in four games for the Las Vegas native. He had no interceptions in his first two seasons.

The Raiders have had opportunities to win — or at least play more competitive games — beyond their two victories. But they have blown many of their chances, including against the Chargers. That game was 7-7 at halftime. Las Vegas' next opponent, Denver, escaped with a 10-7 victory Nov. 6. A blocked field goal cost the Raiders a potential victory over Chicago. Jacksonville won in overtime when the Jaguars batted down a Raiders 2-point conversion pass.

Moving up in the draft. Watching the Raiders on Sundays is painful for their fans, but there could be a big payoff for a franchise that generally does not like to tank for high picks.

It's difficult to judge Ashton Jeanty because of the Raiders' awful offensive line, but other than a tackle-breaking run here and there, the running back has done little on his own to justify the No. 6 draft pick used on him. Jeanty rushed 15 times for 31 yards at LA. He has gained 635 yards on the ground this season, averaging 3.5 per carry.

TE Michael Mayer (ankle) and C/G Jordan Meredith (ankle) didn't play against the Chargers, and Carroll said he didn't have an update on either player. He called both day to day.

10+ — The Raiders not only have lost 10 games, they have been outscored by 10.8 points per game. That combination has happened only four other times at this point in a season in franchise history — 2018 (2-10, -12.3), 2014 (1-11, -13.4), 1962 (0-12, -13.5) and 1961 (2-10, -14.7).

The Raiders host AFC West rival Broncos on Sunday.

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Los Angeles Chargers running back Kimani Vidal (30) scores a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll, center, watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

HONG KONG (AP) — The father of a U.S.-based activist wanted by Hong Kong authorities was convicted Wednesday for attempting to deal with his daughter's financial assets in the city, in the first court case of its kind brought under a homegrown national security law.

Kwok Yin-sang's daughter Anna is the executive director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council. Authorities in 2023 offered 1 million Hong Kong dollars (about $127,900) for information leading to her arrest and later banned anyone from handling any funds for her — widely seen as part of a yearslong crackdown on challenges against Beijing's rule following the massive, anti-government protests in 2019.

Kwok, 69, was arrested in April 2025 under the security law, locally known as Article 23 legislation, enacted a year before. He was accused of having attempted to obtain funds from an insurance policy under his daughter's name. He pleaded not guilty.

Acting principal magistrate Cheng Lim-chi found him guilty on Wednesday, saying Kwok must have known his daughter was an absconder and he was attempting to handle her assets.

According to previous hearings, Kwok bought the insurance policy for Anna when she was a toddler and she gained control of it when she reached 18 years old. The father in 2025 wanted to cancel the policy and get funds from it, the court heard.

Kwok’s lawyer, Steven Kwan, pleaded for a lesser sentence for his client, saying there was no evidence to show his client was trying to get the money to send to his daughter. He suggested the judge consider a 14-day prison term.

While the maximum sentence for his charge is seven years of imprisonment, but his case was heard at the magistrates’ courts, which normally hands down a maximum sentence of two years.

His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 26.

Authorities have accused Anna Kwok of demanding for foreign sanctions, blockade and engaging in other hostile activities against China and Hong Kong through meeting foreign politicians and government officials.

“Today, my father was convicted simply for being my father,” said the younger Kwok on X. “This is transnational repression.”

She said his charge was founded on “incoherent fiction” and she had not received or sought funds from her father or anyone in Hong Kong. She added that the moves from the city's government will not discourage her from carrying on her activism.

Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas spokesperson Joey Siu said the conviction was apparently politically motivated.

“It also sets a dangerous precedent, designed to terrify and silence others who continue to speak out about Hong Kong issues from overseas,” she said in a statement, calling for Kwok's release.

The police’s bounties targeting overseas-based Hong Kong activists, including Siu and pro-democracy former lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui, have drawn criticism from the U.S. and the U.K. governments.

In 2025, Washington sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials who it alleged were involved in “transnational repression” and acts that threaten to further erode the city’s autonomy. It said Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong's national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence and harass some activists who were forced to flee overseas.

Weeks after that, China said it would sanction U.S. officials, lawmakers and leaders of nongovernmental organizations who it said have “performed poorly” on Hong Kong issues.

After Beijing imposed a 2020 national security law on the city, many leading activists were arrested or silenced. Others fled abroad and continued their advocacy for Hong Kong, a British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Both China and Hong Kong governments insist the security laws were crucial for the city's stability.

This story was corrected in an earlier version to reflect that Kwok Yin-sang was arrested in April 2025, not May.

Anna Kwok, second right, speaks to Sen. Jeff Merkley at an event outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., on March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Didi Tang)

Anna Kwok speaks during an event commemorating China's June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy movement in Washington D.C., on June 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Didi Tang)