1 Critical Issue the Raiders Must Fix Immediately

The Las Vegas Raiders' Week 2 loss showed many of the areas in which the Raiders must improve before they face the Washington Commanders in Week 3.

The Elephant in the Room

There were several bad snaps between center Jordan Meredith and quarterback Geno Smith against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night. Meredith routinely struggled to deliever an accurate snap for most of the game, forcing Smith to guess where the snap would be on many plays.

Before practice earlier this week, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll addressed the issue.

"Well, the one that came off and hit the ground, that was really just Jordan [Meredith] trying to get out of his stance really quick. And the ball hit his butt on the way out and, and so it was a miss-snap. We can be more accurate. Geno [Smith] was reaching for the ball some. We'd like to settle those down. He's pretty good at doing it, so it's not an issue. But that one bad snap was a real mistake. And he got a little over anxious and tried to get out of his stance a little quick and didn't work out."

Raiders Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly explained what he believes happened on the snap Carroll referenced. Kelly also believes it was an excution issue. However, Kelly believes the lack of execution stemmed from a lack of communication.

“Just the one, and I don't know if Jordan [Meredith] thought he was under, because it looked like it hit him directly in the butt, like he thought maybe he was under. So, it could have been a communication issue. But those are critical. Where the ball is located when you're slapping the ball is always critical, and it's something that Jordan works on all the time, and I think that was just a one off in that situation," Kelly said.

When asked about the snaps earlier this week, Smith was gracious and did what a quality starting quarterback would do. Smith refused to acknowledge the obvious issues the Raiders had snapping the ball on Monday night and how it impacted him.

"No, I wouldn't say that. Obviously, we want the snaps to be correct and working on getting that corrected. But no, I wouldn't say that impacted me," Smith said.

Smith did the right thing and protected his center. However, objectively, the snaps from Meredith to Smith were a problem on Monday night and undoubtedly impacted his play. Las Vegas must correct the issues as soon as possible.