How Raiders' Geno Smith Set the Standard in Debut

Smith had one of the best debuts of any quarterback in Raiders history and one of the best debuts in the league on Sunday.

"Smith led the NFL in catchable-throw rate, with only one off-target throw out of his 34 pass attempts, according to TruMedia. He was dropping dimes all over the field, starting with a laser to Brock Bowers just ahead of the outstretched arm of a defender on the first snap of the game," Dubin said.

"He ended the afternoon 24 of 34 for 362 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The pick was an ill-advised throw into double coverage that he probably just shouldn't have made. It got tipped up in the air and then picked off. The touchdown was a nice toss over the top of the defense to Tre Tucker.

"Were it not for the pick, we probably would have given Smith a higher grade here. But you've got to grade the entire performance and not just the good stuff, so we're dinging him very slightly for that throw here."

Following the Raiders' win over the Patriots, Carroll praised Smith for his impressive performance on the road. Although it was a team effort, Smith was one of the primary reasons the Raiders are now 1-0 on the season.

"For him to complete over 70 percent of his passes again, I mean, he's been doing this. Geno had a regular game today. I don't think it was a big statement game or anything like that. I just think it's just what he does. And we'll do better than that. We got rushed a little bit today a couple of times, and that really kind of changed his opportunities to have even a bigger day," Carroll said.

"But the fact that we had so many big plays — somebody said we had nine plays over 20, like tied the record or something like that. I can't believe that now. I can't believe with all the guys we've had in the years here at the Raiders, we'd have more than that. But it was still a big day for us, and he did a great job."