Sportsnaut
Well, well, well, look who got their big boy pants. The Las Vegas Raiders rolled into Gillette Stadium, stared a halftime deficit right in the face, and then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of eleven straight prior second-half collapses, snatched a 20-13 victory from the New England Patriots.
And this wasn’t just a win. It was a statement. A statement that says: This isn’t the same old Raiders anymore.
Sure, it wasn’t perfect. We saw some ugly moments, some missed opportunities, and a few head-scratchers that made you wonder if a ghost of Raiders past was still haunting the sidelines. But what we also saw was the undeniable, transformative power of an actual Hall of Fame coach at the helm, and a top-line quarterback who knows how to lead a team from behind.
Also Read:: Reaction: Raiders 20, Patriots 13
Let’s start with the man himself: Pete Carroll. The dude is literally making history, becoming the oldest head coach in NFL history when that game kicked off, and then, just a few hours later, becoming the oldest coach to win a game.
In his first outing with the Silver and Black, Carroll engineered a triumph that wasn’t just about the Xs and Os, but also about culture, belief, and, dare I say, adjustments. It was Carroll’s first NFL win with a franchise other than the Seattle Seahawks since 1999. His quest to revive this franchise, which has been in a tumultuous state since relocating to Las Vegas, is already moving in the right direction.
Read More: Raiders Daily: Wide Receiver Room Shuffle, Facing a New-Look Secondary
And then there’s Geno Smith, the gunslinger who arrived in Vegas via a trade from the Seahawks this offseason. Talk about making an impressive debut. Smith opened his Raiders stint with a bang, throwing for a whopping 362 yards and a touchdown, completing 24 of 34 passes (that’s a 70.6% completion rate). Yeah, he had a big mistake in the first quarter, an interception trying to thread the needle to Brock Bowers in triple coverage, which led to the Patriots’ only touchdown of the day. But what did he do? He shook it off. This isn’t a quarterback who lets one error define his game. He’s no Gardner Minshew.
In the crucial second half, with the Raiders trailing 10-7 at the break, Smith became the maestro of the comeback. After Isaiah Pola-Mao snatched an interception from Drake Maye, Smith immediately went to work, hitting Jakobi Meyers for back-to-back passes of 23 and 19 yards, setting up rookie Ashton Jeanty’s first NFL touchdown. Later, he delivered a 36-yard bomb to rookie Dont’e Thornton Jr. late in the fourth quarter that helped seal the win. That’s the kind of clutch playmaking you expect from a true leader, a quarterback who keeps his cool and delivers when it matters most. He connected with Jakobi Meyers eight...
