The Las Vegas Raiders, and particularly quarterback Geno Smith, had a rough showing against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night. Smith had no touchdowns and threw three interceptions in the 20-9 loss, a game that looked winnable had the Raiders been better able to take care of the ball.
That is extremely important to Smith as well as head coach Pete Carroll. The two have a great relationship and are always on the same page with these things; the Raiders coach made it clear that he has to improve.
Carroll said that he and Smith regularly talk about taking what the defense gives you and protecting the football first and foremost, adding that the quarterback must do a better job of that, via Pat Pickens of Heavy.com:
“We always talk that way of taking what the defense gives you,” Carroll said Wednesday about Smith’s attempt to fit the ball into tight windows. “It’s when things get off rhythm sometimes, that’s when the quarterback needs to decide and always protect the football first.
“We need to do a better job in that, and Geno knows that and I know that. We didn’t get that done.”
For his part, Smith understands completely what Carroll is saying and knows that he has to be more accurate and less aggressive at times in order for the Raiders to succeed:
“[There were] a lot of things I wish I would have done better personally,” Smith said. “You can never just flush that, you’ve got to learn from it. I watched it over 10 times and just tried to figure out things I need to be better, which was a lot of things that were obvious: Being more accurate, taking what the defense gave me, not being so aggressive.”
Smith has the weapons around him to succeed on offense with Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty and Jakobi Meyers all capable of making big plays. And with the defense performing well so far, the Raiders have a chance to make a push to the postseason, but only if Smith can keep his turnovers in check and protect the football, as Carroll is stressing.
Raiders QB Geno Smith vows to improve after poor performance vs. Chargers
Geno Smith didn’t shy away from his poor performance on Monday night against the Chargers either. The quarterback made it clear that he will learn from the game and vowed to be better for his team going forward.
