The Las Vegas Raiders have been terrible to start the season as they are just 1-4. Things are getting worse, as they suffered their worst loss of the season, an embarrassing 40-6 blowout at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, in Week 5.
The offense was supposed to be the team's strength after adding quarterback Geno Smith, running back Ashton Jeanty and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly in the offseason. Instead, the unit has, arguably, been the worst part of the roster as they have averaged just 16.6 points per game, ranking 30th in the league in scoring.
While Jeanty has had back-to-back games with over 100 yards from scrimmage, Smith has been a clear problem for the Raiders. He has thrown for 1,176 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 65.0% of his pass attempts over the first five games.
His nine interceptions lead the entire NFL and rank tied for second-most in franchise history through a quarterback's first five games with the team. Smith had his third multi-interception game of the season on Sunday, and his second in a row, so Raider Nation wanted him benched.
Pete Carroll reveals Raiders almost replaced Geno Smith on Sunday
Smith has been awful to begin his Raiders tenure, making the decision to acquire him and give him a contract extension look like a bad one. When speaking with the media after the loss to the Colts, head coach Pete Carroll shared that he considered making a change at quarterback.
"I was thinking that there was a reason to do that, but here's the reason why I didn't do that: We need to stay out there and keep practicing," Carroll said. "We need to keep practicing, we need the reps, we need the turns, we need to run the system, we need to feel it, we need to see the guys get their opportunities to improve. It's not like a big change. I thought about it because there was a chance to do that. ... That's not what's necessary. We need to get better and to get right."
It is unclear how long the Raiders staff will remain committed to keeping Smith as the starter; however, he doesn't appear to be in any real danger of losing his job. Meanwhile, the 13th-year veteran sounded unfazed by his struggles during his own post-game presser.
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"It's a one play at a time game, and what you do on the previous down does not matter. You got to stay in the moment. You got to execute in the moment. One play at a time. Nothing you did the last game, last season, last week, in practice, none of that stuff matters, man. It's about executing on gameday, getting to the game, one play at a time, doing your job, every guy," Smith said. "All 11 doing their job on all sides of the ball and taking the approach that we're going to get it done. There is nothing else that matters. This is the big boy league. This is the NFL. It's the best of the best, and you've got to go out there and you've got to get it done. Like I said, until we figure that out, we're going to have the same results."
While Smith does not sound deterred by his struggles over the first five weeks, his body language tells a different story. The quarterback looks visibly affected by his performance to begin his Raiders career.
The two-time Pro Bowler has a history with Carroll, which led to Las Vegas trading for him during the offseason. It also, presumably, will lead to a longer leash to work through his struggles. If he is unable to pick up his play, however, the fan base's calls for him to be benched will only continue to get louder.