The clock is ticking on Geno Smith in Las Vegas already

Despite leading the league in interceptions last season with the Seattle Seahawks, Geno Smith was still hailed as a savior at the quarterback position when the Las Vegas Raiders acquired him in March.

Fast forward almost seven months later, and the Raiders have suddenly found themselves in dire straits. Smith, in particular, has been singled out as a root cause of some hangups, as his turnover issues have continued to plague him. In Sunday’s 40-6 stomping at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, Smith threw two more interceptions, putting him in the lead once again with nine in the early going.

The same fans that embraced Smith all those months ago have now emphatically turned on him, and the cries for Kenny Pickett are starting to grow louder and louder.

Raiders fans almost got their wish against the Colts.

When asked about benching Smith in favor of Pickett, especially in a blowout game, Raiders head coach Pete Carroll admitted that he did consider the idea.

“I was thinking of a reason to do that, but here’s a reason why I didn’t do that. We need to stay out there and keep practicing. 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,” said Carroll in response.

Carroll and Smith have made magic in Seattle before, but it is clear that it is not carrying over in Las Vegas for one reason or another.

With four straight losses since the Week One victory over the New England Patriots, the season is already spiraling out of control for the Raiders. At some point, they are going to need to make a gamble to save their season, and Smith’s struggles are making him a starting point for change. The veteran has staved off adversity before, but jaded Raiders fans already seem content on writing him off.

If things do not start trending in the right direction soon, it will not be long until the team that invested so much in Smith this offseason does the same.