The Las Vegas Raiders kicked off the 2025 season in style as they beat the New England Patriots 20-13 to earn their first victory of the new year.
The Raiders, under new head coach Pete Carroll, looked much more disciplined on both sides of the football, though it was the offense that turned heads.
Geno Smith looked brilliant in his Las Vegas debut, throwing for 362 yards and one touchdown, though he did get intercepted once.
Smith wound up setting the franchise record for most passing yards in a debut, and he expressed how confident he was in his abilities via Levi Edwards of Raiders.com:
“I’m me. That’s all I think about. I don’t think about anything else; I’m me,” Smith said after the win, via the team’s official website. “I know who I am, I know what I can do.
“Mistakes happen, things happen within the game. There was a tipped pass, I made the right read, could’ve made a better throw. … Not going to hang my head, I’m keep going. … I just know who I am. I know what I can do on that field so I never worry.”
Smith also discussed his approach to the offense and how he wants to make the right reads:
“That’s how we want to play football,” Smith said. “We want to make sure that we make the right reads. I want to make sure that I’m making the right decisions and getting the ball into the hands of the playmakers. We’ve got a lot of great players and that’s something that we can take advantage of. I want to spread the ball around if need be but I want to find the open guy, first and foremost.”
Smith looked comfortable in his first game with the Silver and Black, finding gaps in the Patriots’ coverage and spreading the ball around. Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers were the primary beneficiaries of Smith’s passing prowess, but the rest of the team got their chance to shine.
There’s still a lot of regular season left to be played, but Smith and company appear to be a legitimate unit.
Ashton Jeanty scores first career touchdown with Raiders against Patriots
Like Geno Smith, Ashton Jeanty also made his Raiders debut, though it wasn’t nearly as impressive as the quarterback’s. Still, Jeanty managed to make an impact on the game as he scored his first career rushing touchdown against the Patriots.
The post Raiders News: Geno Smith Sets Franchise Record appeared first on Raiders Newswire.