Geno Smith's 3 INTs kill Raiders' chances in loss

LAS VEGAS -- Geno Smith's fearlessness in throwing the ball into tight windows can be a gift and a curse. It was the latter in the Raiders' 20-9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night.

One of the few chances the Raiders had to start a comeback came to a halt due to Smith being overly aggressive. Facing a third-and-15 with 6:05 to go in the fourth quarter, Jakobi Meyers faced double coverage, yet Smith tried to connect with the veteran wide receiver. Smith's pass was deflected by safety Derwin James and picked off by Donte Jackson.

"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."

At Allegiant Stadium, Smith went 24-for-43 for 180 yards, with three interceptions and a passer rating of 37. Each interception throw followed a similar pattern: Ill-advised and momentum-draining.

On the game's first play, he tried to complete a pass to wide receiver Tre Tucker, but Chargers safety Alohi Gilman tipped the ball, and it was intercepted by linebacker Daiyan Henley.

Following Justin Herbert's 60-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston, which gave the Chargers a 17-6 lead late in the second quarter, Las Vegas needed Smith to orchestrate a successful two-minute drive. Four plays in, however, Smith made a risky move when targeting Dont'e Thornton Jr. He rolled to the right, evading pressure, and threw to the rookie wide receiver near the goal line, where the ball was tipped and picked off by safety Tony Jefferson.

"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."

Since Smith became a starter in 2022 with the Seattle Seahawks, he has been an effective deep ball thrower. In the past three seasons, Smith had a passer rating of 109.2 on throws for 10-plus air yards. Against the New England Patriots in Week 1, Smith was 4 for 5 for 120 yards, a touchdown and a passer rating of 158.3 on deep pass attempts (20-plus air yards).

The Chargers' rigid defense flipped the narrative. Smith was 0-for-12 on throws of 10+ air yards -- tied for the most attempts without a completion since ESPN began tracking every NFL game in 2006.

Carroll thought the team was impatient in the passing game, leading to Smith forcing deep throws.

"I know that the picks are a big issue, but that's not my concern," Carroll said. "My concern is why we didn't get the bulk thrown and caught underneath, and we wound up taking those shots."

As a whole, the Raiders struggled offensively, ruining a strong second-half performance from the defense. The unit held Los Angeles to three points in the second half and kept the game within reach.

Las Vegas struggled in the trenches. The offensive line gave up 16 pressures and three sacks. Meanwhile, the Raiders were held to 68 rushing yards. Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty had 11 carries for 43 yards.

"I'm never going to make any excuses about anything," Smith said. "I've got to be better. We've got to be better, and we've got a short week to improve on that."