Geno Smith showed why the Las Vegas Raiders made the trade to acquire him this offseason.
Smith was the best quarterback on the field in Foxborough on Sunday, throwing for 362 yards with a touchdown and an interception on 24-of-34 passing for a 102.8 passer rating, outdueling 2024 first-round pick Drake Maye in a 20-13 Raiders road win.
"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."
Vegas scored on its opening drive with Smith hitting Tre Tucker for a 26-yard touchdown. The rest of the half was quiet: Smith threw a ball into traffic that was tipped and intercepted on the second drive, then the Raiders had three three-and-outs before missing a final field goal.
However, after the break, Smith divebombed the Patriots defense.
Smith’s 362 passing yards set a Raiders debut record, surpassing Dan Pastorini’s 317 in 1980. His nine passes of 20-plus yards tied a team record since 1991.
"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."
Sunday was Smith's sixth game with 350-plus passing yards and his third in two seasons. Only Joe Burrow has more 350-plus yard games since 2024.
Pete Carroll, now 4-0 in his debut as head coach with new teams, downplayed Smith’s performance, saying it met his expectations for the veteran.
"He's been doing this now. Geno had a regular game today," Carroll said. "I don't think it was a big statement game or anything like that. I just think that's what he does. And we'll do better than that. He's got it in him to do better than that."