The Las Vegas Raiders put together an all-time bad showing in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Offensively, in particular, the Raiders looked inept, and to make matters worse, they had to stew on the loss for quite some time, as they had their bye week following the brutal beatdown.
There was no rest for the weary after their time off, as Las Vegas was welcoming the 4-3 Jacksonville Jaguars to Allegiant Stadium in Week 9. Equipped with a great defense and needing to snap a two-game losing streak, the Raiders' offense had its work cut out for them against Jacksonville.
Geno Smith, in particular, was under a microscope. With Kenny Pickett finally getting some run before the bye, and Aidan O'Connell's return looming, the veteran quarterback needed to have a strong showing to quiet some of the noise around benching him.
Geno Smith did more, but not enough for Raiders in loss to Jaguars
Fortunately, Smith did just that against Jacksonville, turning in his second-best performance of the season. Unfortunately, this is a fairly low bar, and he still made enough mistakes that his strong showing was not enough for the Raiders to earn a win.
Let's start with the good: Smith completed 74.4% of his passes for 284 yards and a season-high 4 touchdowns, leading Las Vegas to 29 points, also the highest mark of the year. He only took two sacks, and he did this all without the rushing attack really showing up, especially in the second half.
However, Smith threw an interception on just the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, which halted some of the Raiders' momentum and gave the Jaguars an automatic field goal, which ended up being the difference in the game.
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He also continued to struggle with getting rid of the ball, as it seems like Smith forgets that simply throwing the ball away is an option when he is out of the pocket and under duress. But his most costly mistake came at the most pivotal moment in the game.
Down one point with just 16 seconds left in overtime, Las Vegas opted to go for two points and the win. This meant that the Raiders had exactly one shot on what would be the final play of the game to score and escape with a victory.
Of course, Smith hesitated and patted the ball twice in the pocket, which allowed a Jaguars defensive lineman to jump into the passing lane, bat the pass down, and seal the Raiders' fate. It was truly emblematic of the kind of season that Las Vegas has had.
After a strong fourth quarter in which Smith completed 9-of-9 passes and tossed two touchdowns, he just couldn't quite come through when the Raiders needed him to. Yes, DaVon Hamilton made a nice play, but it was only because Smith second-guessed himself that he had the opportunity.
Even when things are going relatively well for the Silver and Black, the stars just simply haven't aligned for a win. Smith still has lightyears to go before he can convince Raider Nation that he's the right guy at quarterback, but Sunday was a step in the right direction, even if it wasn't enough.