The first two games of quarterback Geno Smith’s tenure with the Raiders have produced very different results.
Smith averaged 10.6 yards per attempt in a season-opening win over the Patriots, but the team picked up just 4.18 yards per attempt in Monday night’s loss to the Chargers. Twelve of Smith’s 43 attempts traveled more than 10 yards in the air, but none of them resulted in completions. Per Next Gen Stats, Smith is the first quarterback since 2016 to attempt at least 10 passes of that length without completing any of them.
Smith also threw three interceptions and head coach Pete Carroll said that they were less of a concern than “why we didn’t get the bulk thrown and caught underneath” over the course of the game. The quarterback didn’t get much help from his protection or the running game, but said the onus is on him to get the offense moving in the right direction.
“Those are things that I got to learn from and be better at,” Smith said, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN.com. “Anything that doesn’t look right out there, put that on my shoulders. I feel like I got to be a lot better for our guys. I know I have to, and I will be.”
The Raiders will have a short week to clean things up before heading across the country to face the Commanders in Week 3.
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