The Las Vegas Raiders carried a four-game losing streak into Week 6's matchup with the Tennessee Titans. While a bounce-back win was desperately needed for the team as a whole, no player needed to have a stronger showing than veteran quarterback Geno Smith.
Smith entered the contest with a league-leading nine interceptions, and the fan base had largely given up on him just five games into his tenure with the Silver and Black. With another bad performance, the pleas for Kenny Pickett to take over under center would have been raucous.
Thankfully, Las Vegas earned a fairly comfortable 20-10 win at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, bringing them to 2-4 on the year and snapping the aforementioned losing streak. While Smith wasn't great, nor a big part of the victory, he was better, and he earned some much-needed praise.
Michael Mayer heaped praise on Geno Smith after Raiders' win vs. Titans
Michael Mayer returned to the lineup for the Raiders and started in place of an injured Brock Bowers. After his strong performance against the Titans in the win, Mayer spoke on Raiders Postgame Live! about Smith, and he said what the fans needed to hear about the veteran signal-caller.
"It feels great, being back out there with my guys, being back out there with Geno [Smith], the offense, it feels really, really good," Mayer said. "Geno did a great job today, man. Geno did a great job finding the open receiver, finding me when I was open. That one fourth down was a really, really good find for me on a side view. So, props to Geno for that, really good day for him about finding the open receiver."
While the fan base may not have been moved by Smith's performance, it matters more what the people in the building think. If Mayer thought Smith played well on Sunday, then Raider Nation should probably rally behind this sentiment.
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Of course, Smith's stat line was not too impressive, as he threw for just 174 yards and one touchdown while also tossing his tenth interception of the season. Smith also took two official sacks, but he had a handful more negated by penalty that don't show up in the box score.
Regardless of how you slice it, however, Smith was better than last week, even though that is a low bar to clear. Plus, he got Mayer involved early and often, as the third-year tight end finished with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. So, Mayer likely feels a kinship toward Smith after this game.
But after several poor performances in a row, Raider Nation needed to hear some praise for Smith that didn't come from Pete Carroll or Chip Kelly. Mayer went out of his way to say this about his quarterback, and although fans still may not be sold on Smith, they needed to hear some positive comments about him.