The Las Vegas Raiders had a chance to go 2-0 and give head coach Pete Carroll a win as a gift on his 74th birthday. But Las Vegas couldn't get the job done in a Monday Night Football matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium.
The Raiders didn't even put up a performance that would have still been worth praising even in a loss. Not only did the Raiders fail in finding the end zone, but they also struggled with ball security. Quarterback Geno Smith threw for only 180 passing yards on 24-of-43 pass attempts while getting intercepted not once, not twice, but three times by an opportunistic Chargers stop unit.
When it was all said and done on the field, Justin Herbert and the Bolts came away with a 20-9 victory and left Smith and the home team with its first loss in the 2025 NFL regular season.
Carroll didn't seem to like the decisions Smith made during the plays where the quarterback's passes were telegraphed by the Chargers.
“I'm not supporting some of the choices there,” Carroll said, per Ryan McFadden of ESPN. “I need to see what happened, though. I want to see if he had other options.”
Smith's first interception came on his first pass attempt of the contest. He was picked off again with just under a minute left in the second quarter, and while the Raiders were trying to answer a touchdown scored by Los Angeles in the previous drive.
His third and last interception happened just after the Raiders forced a Chargers turnover on downs in the fourth quarter, thus further hurting the chances of Las Vegas for a comeback.
“I know that the picks are a big issue, but that's not my concern,” Carroll shared. “My concern is why we didn't get the bulk thrown and caught underneath, and we wound up taking those shots.”
Smith, who was traded to the Raiders by the Seattle Seahawks in March, now has four interceptions and only a touchdown pass in two games, so far with Las Vegas.
There is still time for Smith to address his interception issues, which the Raiders hope won't manifest again in Week 3 against the Washington Commanders on the road.
