The Las Vegas Raiders got a troubling performance from their quarterback, and it was bad enough for fans to hit the panic button. The result was a loss to the Chargers, and here are the Raiders most to blame for the ugly Week 2 setback.
Smith threw three interceptions as the Raiders struggled mightily in a 20-9 loss. The quarterback wasn’t the only person to blame. But he takes center stage for this one.
Raiders QB Geno Smith had a bad night
Head coach Pete Carroll said Smith’s passing choices may not have been the best, according to ESPN.
“I'm not supporting some of the choices there,” coach Pete Carroll said. “I need to see what happened, though. I want to see if he had other options.
“I know that the picks are a big issue, but that's not my concern. My concern is why we didn't get the bulk thrown and caught underneath, and we wound up taking those shots.”
Smith said he needs to be better.
“Those are things that I got to learn from and be better at,” Smith said. “Anything that doesn't look right out there, [I] 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.”
Raiders' offensive line turned in a dud
The unit gave up 16 pressures and three sacks. Also, it didn’t create much room for rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. That’s two straight weeks of poor production for the much-hyped first-rounder. And the blame rests heavily on the shoulders of the offensive line.
The Raiders aren’t living up to the preseason hope set forth by former Pro Bowl Raiders’ lineman Donald Penn, according to Sports Illustrated.
“We got to get better,” Penn said. “We've got to get more consistent. We've got to get better. We get to see what these young guys are going to do, so I'm excited to watch and see how they've been. Miller is still doing a great job anchoring the offensive line, but I want to see the offensive line get a little bit tougher.
“I want to see us enforce ourselves, assert ourselves a little bit more, protect our guys. Not get stupid penalties doing it, but we need to be a little more tougher, a little nastier.”
But that didn’t happen against the Chargers. And it will be a season-long issue if the Raiders don’t get it fixed. The starting unit is Kolton Miller, Dylan Parham, Jordan Meredith, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and D.J. Glaze.
OC Chip Kelly deserves blame
The Raiders don’t look very exciting on offense. They’ve scored 29 points in two games, and it has been a fairly bland approach. Kelly needs to loosen things up and get Jeanty more involved, according to CBS Sports HQ via heavy.com.
“They have no identity,” Bryant McFadden said. “They don’t know what they want to be. And when you look at the players they’ve brought into the organization — Geno Smith and then drafting Ashton Jeanty in the top 10 — you would think they would feature him more.
“I think getting him in space could really help the offense in terms of running the football. That would provide a sense of balance, because right now they’re one-dimensional. We’re not seeing Ashton Jeanty surface and showcase his skill set, for whatever reason.”
Of course, Kelly can only do so much with Geno Smith. If Smith regresses to his pre-Seahawks days, the Riaders are toast. They have a reasonably good backup in Kenny Pickett. But backups rarely win many games in the NFL.
Kelly is going to have to earn his keep this year. For the Raiders to be competitive, he will need to be better than he was Monday night.
