What the Raiders Must Do to Bounce Back Stronger

Thomas Valentine is a sports writer for Pro Football Focus, and he looked at what the biggest reason was for each win and loss in week two of the NFL. For the Raiders, he had a lot of options but ultimately chose Smith's poor play as the biggest reason the Raiders lost.

"A tough night for Geno Smith in his second start for the Raiders. Part of the issue was that Smith was pressured on 35.4% of his dropbacks, but how he performed in those moments compounded the situation. The Chargers' defense made Smith hold on to the ball for longer, and his average time to throw when pressured was 4.44 seconds, leading to a 39.6 overall PFF grade in those situations", said Valentine.

I believe the offensive line has a lot to do with his poor performance, but the offensive line isn't completely responsible for him throwing three interceptions. From the first throw of the night for Smith, it just looked like he wasn't ready for primetime.

He was missing easy throws, and the Raiders arguably have the worst starting quarterback in the NFL, at the moment. Smith is talented and gives the Raiders offense a chance to shine, but through two weeks, the Smith rollercoaster has been in full effect.

Smith is top ten in total passing yards just two weeks into the new season, but he also leads all quarterbacks in the NFL in interceptions with four. Meanwhile, he has only one passing touchdown and no score on the ground.

Smith is talented, but if he doesn't stop throwing the ball in harm's way, it severely caps the Raiders' offense, and their ceiling becomes a lot lower than I initially thought.