Pete Carroll revealed 1 crucial detail about Geno Smith’s first game that will only make the Raiders fanbase love their new QB even more
Geno Smith made Pete Carroll proud in the Raiders’ win.
After Week 1, the Las Vegas Raiders are already three wins away from tying their 2024 season total, beating the New England Patriots in a wet and nasty game on the road. It was the first we’ve seen from this new iteration of the Raiders, and it’s promising in terms of what can come out of this season. A lot of that has to do with the tandem of Geno Smith and Pete Carroll.
The duo has spent a ton of time together, and know one another like the back of their hands. The Raiders haven’t had a HC-QB duo like that in some time, and after Carroll revealed a minor detail about Smith’s debut on Sunday, fans will only love what Smith is about even more.
“Somebody said this was a breakout game for him, but it wasn’t at all,” Carroll said on Monday. “That’s how Geno [Smith] plays – 70.0 percent, 300-something, whatever. That’s how he plays, and he’ll have bigger games going forward. But we really liked the way he played. And I think he was like 13-for-15 or something in the second half. And he was a little tight, and you could tell when he was moving around, had a little tightness in his hammy or something, and he was fine. He was fine, and he was just on it, and it was a great finish for him, too.”
So, despite some hamstring issues, which can be nearly impossible to overcome in the middle of a game, he still balled out. Those are the types of things that stick out to a fan base like the one he’s playing for every Sunday.
Geno Smith embodies the Raider Way
When you think of the Raider Way with this modern era of the Raiders, there is only one player that should come to mind, and that’s Maxx Crosby. Everything it means to be a Raider, and everything it stands for, all of the history and richness that comes with the Silver and Black, that’s Crosby, and that’s what he’s been about since Day 1. Now, he has another guy who is pretty much the same way.
Crosby had never missed a game in his career until last season, when he probably could have played through his foot injury, but the season was pretty much over for the Raiders in terms of their playoff hopes, so he just shut it down for surgery and recovery. That’s kind of how Smith is. He will work his way past any obstacle, whether it’s an injury or hamstring tightness, and try to get a win.
On Sunday, Smith played an incredible second half, despite the stat sheet not being incredibly eye-popping. He carried the Raiders to a win by hitting rookie wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. for a big third-and-20 conversion. Smith finished with 362 pass yards on 24-of-34 passing, with an interception and a touchdown to go along with it. He had several big plays of at least 20-plus yards, where, as we all know, the last two years had hardly any.
According to Pro Football Focus, Smith had two big-time throws, or throws a bit further down the field, that were put in precise locations. Last year, O’Connell had 12 of those throughout nine games, and Gardner Minshew had five of them in 10 games. It’s obvious that Smith is already proving how much of an upgrade he is, and the fact that he played the way he did while dealing with what he was dealing with says a lot about Smith.
Las Vegas Raiders News
Geno Smith is already breaking franchise records in his debut for the Las Vegas Raiders after win over New England Patriots
Geno Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders walked out of New England with a win.
