Why the Raiders Beat the Patriots in Convincing Fashion

All Eyes on Smith

The Raiders finally got to show off their shiny new quarterback on Sunday against the Patriots. Geno Smith quickly made the Raiders' front office's offseason look brilliant in just one regular season game.

Las Vegas may have finally solved their issues at quarterback, as Smith looked every bit like the franchise quarterback the Raiders hoped he would be. Thomas Valentine of Pro Football Focus believes Smith's performance is the reason the Raiders won on Sunday.

"Geno Smith gave Raiders fans a glimpse of his talent in the win against the Patriots, and he was at his best in a clean pocket," Valentine said.

"Smith earned a 91.5 overall grade when kept clean, completing 20-of-25 pass attempts for 290 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The veteran quarterback tossed two big-time throws against the Patriots and averaged 11.6 yards per attempt. Smith was slinging it."

Adding Smith was undeniably the best decision the Raiders made this offseason. The move was a low-risk, high-reward move that could make the Raiders a much better team than many may have believed was possible coming into the season.

Following the Raiders' Week 1 win, Carroll noted that Smith performed similarly on Sunday as he generally performed when the two were previously together in Seattle. Smith's best years came under Carroll in Seattle, they look to pick up where they left off.

"He's never just gone to one guy or the other guy, and he's always just taken what the offense gives you. And I think that was a good example of it. Somebody said was this a breakout game for him, it wasn't at all. That's how Geno [Smith] plays – 70.0 percent, 300-something, whatever,” Carroll said. 

“That's how he plays, and he'll have bigger games going forward. But we really liked the way he played. And I think he was like 13-for-15 or something in the second half. And he was a little tight and you could tell when he was moving around, had a little tightness in his hammy or something, and he was fine. He was fine, and he was just on it, and it was a great finish for him, too."