The Las Vegas Raiders suffered a disappointing 24-41 loss against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t positives to take away from the game.
The biggest piece of positive news to come out of the loss was watching Raiders quarterback Geno Smith have a bounce-back performance after a poor Week 2 outing. Smith threw for 289 yards on 29 attempts. He also recorded three passing touchdowns against the Commanders’ defense.
Smith and receiver Tre Tucker connected eight times in Week 3, totaling 145 yards with Tucker scoring all three receiving touchdowns. The two have now scored four touchdowns in three weeks to start the season.
“They have a good defense and a lot of good guys on that side. Hats off to them. They played a great game,” Smith told reporters after the game. “I felt like we made our plays throughout the game, but it just wasn’t consistent enough –– that’s why I feel like we spuddered throughout the game. We had some big plays, then we had some drives that didn’t look right. I put that on me. I’ve got to be better for my guys.”
While the 34-year-old still sees room for improvement after Week 3, there was a lot that Smith did improve on from Week 2. Last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, Smith threw for just 180 yards on 43 pass attempts. He was intercepted three times, and the offense failed to score a touchdown in the game.
In media meetings earlier this week, Smith provided a similar statement about being better. He said he had rewatched the film upwards of 10 times as he was hungry to learn from his Week 2 mistakes. His preparation and determination going into Week 3 paid off for him, even if the team still lost by double-digit points.
The loss certainly wasn’t the fault of Smith, who was a rare bright spot for the Raiders. The Raiders’ defense allowed four touchdowns, and the special teams unit allowed a punt return touchdown from the Commanders’ Jaylin Lane. It’s a significant blow for the Raiders not to walk away with a victory against a Commanders team that was without their star quarterback, Jayden Daniels.
Smith’s bounce-back performance provides some hope for Las Vegas as they take on a Chicago Bears team that still has many questions to answer next Sunday. Raiders fans will look for Smith to duplicate his Week 3 performance and will his team back into the winning column.