The Las Vegas Raiders kicked off the Pete Carroll era with a 20-13 road victory over the New England Patriots in Week 1. There were plenty of standout performers, but the defense was the biggest surprise, as they held the Josh McDaniels-led offense to just 3 garbage-time second-half points.
Geno Smith's performance also proved that the Raiders finally have a franchise quarterback. He became just the sixth quarterback in franchise history to throw for more than 350 yards and complete at least 70% of his attempts, while setting a Raiders record for passing yards in his debut.
More impressively, Smith did a great job of spreading the ball around, as seven players caught a pass, four of whom averaged over 20 yards per reception. Entering the season, it was clear that Las Vegas had one of the best tight ends in football in Brock Bowers. Following the opener, Carroll made it known that Michael Mayer is also a big part of the franchise's plans.
Raiders HC Pete Carroll shares high praise for tight end unit
Mayer had a strong outing in Week 1, as he finished with four receptions on four targets for 38 yards. All of his catches came on scoring drives, with none bigger than a 4th-and-1 catch that allowed Las Vegas to continue driving and go up 10 points with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Following the game, his head coach had high praise for him when a media member suggested that he was a No. 2 tight end.
"He ain't a No. 2 tight end. We got ones."Pete Carroll on Michael Mayer
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Carroll continued with his praise of Mayer, adding:
"We got ones. Those guys can all play and do stuff," Carroll said. "Mike had made some big catches today and hung onto the ball great."
While many believed that Mayer could be traded during the offseason, Carroll's comments following the season opener show that the franchise strongly believes in him. The 35th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft had the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade of any Raiders offensive player who was on the field for at least 10 snaps.
Additionally, Mayer wound up playing 40 snaps compared to 32 for Bowers, who left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury. While the 2024 First-Team All-Pro is not expected to miss any additional time, Mayer stepped up big in his absence, and Carroll noticed.