Graney: Geno Smith must stop turnovers or Raiders’ season might implode

Geno Smith will get better because he has to be.

He can’t keep this up if the Raiders expect to win games.

If they expect this season to not totally implode.

He can’t keep throwing the ball to the other guys.

Smith and the Raiders take a 1-3 record into their game at Indianapolis on Sunday. The veteran quarterback leads the NFL in interceptions with seven.

His numbers earn him a failing grade thus far.

Smith is 27th in quarterback rating and 29th in Pro Football Focus’ grading system.

Many predicted before the season he could be one of the top 15 passers in the league. He hasn’t played close to that level yet.

Smith also hasn’t found much success throwing the ball downfield. All of his picks have come on throws of 10 or more air yards.

And yet coach Pete Carroll insists his quarterback isn’t forcing the ball. Carroll insists there is little to be concerned about moving forward. It just doesn’t look that way, is all.

Accurate in practice

“I’m not worried about his confidence,” Carroll said. “He knows. What I’m concerned about is I want to make sure we’re practicing him so that he understands that some of those throws aren’t there. He hits everything in practice. He’s ridiculously accurate and has been the whole time we’ve been together.

“So, that’s where he grows. The game speed is a little bit different than the practice that we can create and some of those choices go to check downs.”

Carroll said two of Smith’s three interceptions in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Bears are examples of where there’s room to improve. The Raiders practiced the same looks Chicago showed several times. Smith was sure he could make those throws once the game started.

“He’s a little bit of a hard head in that he thought he could get it done because he prepared to get it done,” Carroll said. “So unfortunately, the rhythm was just a hair off of what it had been in practice, and so they make a big play on us.”

The Raiders acquired Smith from the Seahawks for a third-round pick in March.

Seattle turned around and signed quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year contract. There’s no question the Seahawks (3-1) have won the swap so far. Darnold is sixth in the NFL in quarterback rating through four weeks.

Smith hasn’t been helped by the fact that tight end Brock Bowers has been limited by a knee injury he suffered in Week 1. Smith needs to be more accurate, but he could also use a boost from his receivers.

He threw a low pass to rookie wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. against the Bears, for example, that was dropped near the goal line. It wasn’t the best pass, but it was one that should have been caught.

Smith still took responsibility for the play. He didn’t back away from accepting blame for the loss.

All about the ball

“(The interceptions) all came out of my hand and ended up in the defense’s hands,” Smith said. “So those are the things that I’ve seen that are in common and those are things we’ve got to correct.”

He is much better than he has played. There is no question about that. But you can’t sugarcoat the results. You can’t talk things into being better than they have been.

Smith will get better because he has to or this entire thing might implode fast.

“Unfortunately, those (turnover) numbers are just outrageous for us, and particularly (for) a team that has it on their wall, ‘It’s all about the ball,’” Carroll said.

It’s all about their quarterback taking better care of it.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.