Pete Carroll just added fuel to the fire. As the Raiders continue to deal with the fallout from their crushing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Las Vegas head coach came out to defend Geno Smith, throwing the rest of the team under the bus in the process.
The Raiders are mired in a deep crisis with Smith at the helm. Although they opened the season with a 20-13 win over the New England Patriots, they then suffered four consecutive losses.
With a 2-5 record, the team sits at the bottom of the AFC West, having suffered losses to the Chargers, Commanders, Bears, Colts, and Chiefs, while also securing wins over the Patriots and the struggling Titans.
However, it was the 31-0 shutout they suffered at the hands of the Chiefs in Week 7 that set off alarm bells in Las Vegas. With fans and the media up in arms, Carroll attempted damage control, which immediately backfired.
Carroll tries to defend Smith
At a press conference on Monday, Carroll tried to look on the bright side of Smith’s performance against the Chiefs. “I think he’s turning the corner,” the head coach stated.
“He’s as competitive as ever. He’s frustrated because he wants to win, and we want to play big and all that,” Carroll said after the abysmal loss to Kansas City, in which he had to bench Smith and send Kenny Pickett onto the field.
Carroll asserted that Smith “is ready to go, and we need to build up around him.” However, he immediately declared, “He can’t do all of it by himself,” suggesting a lack of effort from the rest of the team.
The numbers don’t favor Geno Smith
So far, this has been one of the worst years of Smith’s career. In seven games, he has completed 133 passes in 202 attempts, with 1,417 yards gained, seven touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, and 19 sacks.
Against the Chiefs, he completed just 62.5% of his passes, averaging 4.2 yards per pass, and was sacked once. His rating for this game was 71.6. points.
The 13-year veteran signed a two-year, $75 million contract with the Raiders this offseason. But so far, fans don’t feel he’s justifying his salary, and Pete Carroll’s statements aren’t really helping.
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