This Critical Stat Confirms Geno Smith's Excellence

Smith is No Check Down Charlie

One of the primary issues that plagued most of the Raiders quarterbacks over the past two seasons was the inability to move the ball down the field consistently. In his first game with the Raiders, Smith ensured that was not a problem, making good on his previous comments about being explosive.

The Raiders regularly tested the Patriots deep, as Smith connected on several chunk plays. Many of those plays helped swing momentum into the Raiders' favor. Smith completed 10 passes of 10 yards or more and another pass for 19 yards en route to a Raiders Week 1 win.

Heath Cummings of CBS Sports listed some of the most notable stats from Sunday's games. Smith's numbers stood out for various reasons.

"Geno Smith's 10.6 yards per attempt was second only to Lamar Jackson in Week 1. The Raiders passed more and more successfully than many expected," Cummings said.

"This offense was one of the best in the league in terms of pass efficiency and one of the worst in the league in terms of run efficiency. They also had the highest pass rate over expected in Week 1. Chip Kelly has presided over a couple of high-volume pass offenses in the past, and this could be another."

Following the Raiders' win on Sunday, Smith credited his supporting cast with doing their respective parts to help secure the team's first victory of the season. With 16 games left, the Raiders only need three more wins to match last season's win total.

"Man, Brock [Bowers] is a tremendous asset. He gives us the advantage in personnel because he's just a tremendous player all around. And so D coordinators, they've got to figure out how they want to guard him, and we've got to adjust to it. And Brock's a great player, but I think all our guys showed up. I thought Jakobi [Meyers] had a great game today," Smith said.

"I thought Tre [Tucker] had a great game. You see the big plays that Dont'e made. Tough running by Ashton [Jeanty]. It's hard to do that in a four-minute situation when the whole stadium knows we're running the ball. But our O-line played well. I thought they gave me a ton of time back there to get through my reads. Chip [Kelly] called a great game. I think it's a collection of all of us having to do those things, but having Brock obviously makes my job a lot easier."