Sportsnaut
Following a devastating 40-6 humiliation at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, the Las Vegas Raiders sit at 1-4, staring down their 15th losing season over the past 20 years. This dismal tally represents the worst start of first-year head coach Pete Carroll’s long and storied career. While Carroll promised during training camp that the Raiders would win a “bunch” of games, the reality is that the effort to raise the floor of the Raiders’ passing attack with the Geno Smith acquisition has failed miserably. The team’s inability to compete has effectively dashed any thought of being in the playoff hunt by Thanksgiving.
The primary catalyst for this swift descent into disaster is painfully apparent: the veteran quarterback is an absolute turnover machine. Through five games, Geno Smith leads the NFL with nine interceptions. This is not just bad play; it is historically awful. Smith’s nine picks mark the highest total by a Raiders quarterback through the first five games of a season since Jim Plunkett in 1982. The only other recent player in this unenviable company is Zach Wilson of the Jets, who played in 2021.
2 home games: Geno Smith is ZERO-for-17 on passes 10+ air yards down the field.
Here are all 17 attempts 📽️ pic.twitter.com/oqALU0upQK
— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg) October 1, 2025
The problem compounds because these turnovers are not meaningless mistakes in garbage time, they are crippling the team. Seven of Smith’s nine interceptions have resulted directly in opponent scoring drives, giving away 35 points in total. During the Colts blowout, Smith endured his third multi-interception performance of the season, looking confused and lacking confidence in his reads and throws throughout the afternoon. He is arguably the worst quarterback in the NFL through the first five weeks of the season.
The systemic failure of the offense was glaring in Indianapolis, where the Raiders went 0-for-4 in the red zone. Geno Smith’s inability to convert opportunities into touchdowns keeps the team in its own way. His first interception came deep in Colts territory, at the 11-yard line. Though Smith tried to justify the play, stating he threw to the open receiver, the result was a tipped ball and an interception that shouldn’t have happened, according to Carroll.
What is perhaps more disturbing than Smith’s play is the head coach’s stunning lack of situational awareness and willingness to confront reality. When asked to evaluate Smith’s performance after reviewing the game tape, Pete Carroll offered an evaluation that defied logic, saying, “G was solid,” and insisted Smith has “just got to keep doing it.”
#Raiders coach Pete Carroll asked to evaluate Geno Smith after watching the tape of the game vs. Indy
“G was solid…G’s just gotta keep doing it, he’s gotta stay with it. We gotta continue to build around him…and he’s gotta do his part also”
For more analysis on Geno’s play… pic.twitter.com/yhBhAWLKZY
— Jesse...
