Raiders miss out on early first place chance after miscues against Chargers

Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith takes the snap during Week 2 against the LA Chargers inside Allegiant Stadium. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Raiders

In an early season opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the AFC West, the Las Vegas Raiders took a step back in their home opener.

Las Vegas was beaten by the Los Angeles Chargers, 20-9, Monday night from Allegiant Stadium in a Week 2 divisional matchup. It was the first meeting in 11 years between coaching rivals Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh with Monday also serving as the former’s 74th birthday.

“I’ve got to take a look at the film,” Carroll said. “I’ve got to see why that happened like that, I’m surprised. We haven’t looked like that at all, at any time.”

The Raiders will return to the road for a Week 3 contest against the Washington Commanders with kickoff set for 10 a.m.

“You can never just say you can flush it,” quarterback Geno Smith said. “You’ve got to learn from it. I’m going to be super hard on myself, extremely hard on myself because that’s all I know. I’m going to get better this week, I’m going to find ways to get better from this film and we’ll be better as a team as well.”

Las Vegas opened the game on offense after Los Angeles won the coin toss and deferred, only to have Smith throw an interception on the team’s first play from scrimmage.

That marked the second straight week with a first quarter interception for the first-year Raider signal-caller.

“They covered us up pretty good,” Carroll said. “I’m anxious to see the film. I’m surprised that they did such a nice job on pass defense against us.”

Raiders quarterback Geno Smith launches a deep pass against the Chargers during a Week 2 loss from Allegiant Stadium. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Raiders

Already facing a 10-6 deficit, he’d throw his second interception of the first half late in the second quarter.

It’s the first time since 2022 that Smith has thrown multiple first half interceptions.

“He took a couple of shots,” Carroll said. “He threw a couple of bombs down there. One was at the two [yard-line] and the other was in the end zone [...] We had time to hold the football so we protected okay and we didn’t get the ball thrown underneath – that’s what I wish we would’ve done too. I wish we would’ve not taken those shots.”

Ultimately, Smith threw three interceptions with the final one coming in the fourth quarter as part of the home opening collapse. Through two games this season, he has one touchdown to four interceptions.

His four aerial turnovers lead the league.

“Again, those are things that I’ve got to learn from and be better at,” he said. “Anything that doesn’t look right out there, you put that on my feet. Put that on my shoulders. I feel like I’ve got to be a lot better for our guys, I know I have to and I will be.”

Smith engineered a singular 21-play drive that lasted more than 11 minutes on the team’s first possession out of halftime. That drive would end with the third made field goal of the night off the foot of kicker Daniel Carlson, which resulted in a host of boos from the home fans.

Las Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson boots one of his three made field goals in a, 20-9, loss to the LA Chargers. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Raiders

Carlson went 3-for-3 on field goals with a long of 54 yards in the first quarter.

That long drive saw the Raiders convert five third downs as they went 9-for-18 on the money down. That seemed to be counteracted by the 0-for-3 mark in the red zone.

“We were 50% on third downs in this game,” Carroll said. “That should generally get you a chance to hold the football and move it [...] We’re capable of showing that kind of consistency, we have to stay patient. It felt like we were inpatient at times in this game.”

Smith went 24-for-43 for 180 yards to go along with his three interceptions.

Las Vegas’ defense kept the team in the game despite being put in several bad spots including beginning drives 25 yards and 29 yards away from its own end zone.

Raiders defensive tackle Jonah Laulu hits Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert during the team's divisional home loss. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Raiders

Defensive tackle Jonah Laulu racked up three tackles for loss including two sacks with the first coming in the first quarter. The takedown of opposing quarterback Justin Herbert was washed away two plays later on an unnecessary roughness penalty against safety Isaiah Pola-Mao.

Three plays after the flag was thrown, Herbert found receiver Keenan Allen in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown.

“This is a defense that’s going to come together and continue to make it difficult on our opponents,” Carroll said. “The running game has not been the issue at all, we’ve been able to some rush. Our corners made some nice plays tonight.

“You’ve got to give credit to Justin Herbert, he’s a really good player and he made good decisions and good choices. And when he had his open guy he made the big play.”

Herbert would strike again in the first half, this time on a 60-yard reception for his second touchdown of the first 30-minute session. He threw for 242 yards on 19-of-27 passes with two touchdowns.

The Raiders were able to recover one of the two fumbles by Herbert with it coming late in regulation. That would be followed by a turnover on downs by the Las Vegas offense, the team’s second straight drive resulting in such.