The Las Vegas Raiders fell 31-14 to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13 on November 30 at SoFi Stadium. It was the first game since firing Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator, and the Raiders’ offense showed some signs of improvement, but not enough to get a win.
One of the primary changes the Silver and Black made was not having Geno Smith take 40-plus pass attempts. In the loss to the Chargers, the veteran quarterback completed 18 of 23 passes for 165 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
As a result, CBS Sports NFL analyst Damien Harris believes after this latest performance against the Chargers that it’s time to cut ties with Smith this offseason after the team’s elimination from playoff contention.
“A change of quarterback is what needs to happen,” Harris said on the November 30 edition of “CBS Sports HQ.” “That’s where this starts. Geno Smith has not been good all season long, whether it’s the turnovers or not seeing the field properly.
“They’re not finding ways creatively to get Ashton Jeanty going. Brock Bowers has been limited. At times, he’s been injured. When he plays, he still shows those flashes, but they’re just not doing enough to scheme that guy open and get the production out of him that you need.
“You get rid of one of your top receivers, Jakobi Meyers, and that leaves you depleted in the pass catcher position. In totality, this team needs to get better in a lot of areas, but the biggest place I’m circling with a red marker is quarterback.”
Brock Bowers Continues to Be Bright Spot for Raiders
Despite the change in offensive coordinator, it didn’t provide the Raiders with a significant boost, as the Las Vegas offense has scored over 20 points only once in its last six games. The loss to the Chargers was the latest in that trend, and Raiders star Brock Bowers spoke about whether he felt any change in the team’s offense.
“It felt a little different,“ Bowers said postgame after the loss to Los Angeles. “I’m interested to see how this next week goes and the rest of the year… You can see we just need to stay away from big negative plays like penalties and sacks. When we stay on track, our offense is effective. We need to convert those third downs and keep the drive going.”
Losing Is Starting to Take Its Toll on Raiders Players
Bowers caught four passes for 63 yards, and he was responsible for both of the Silver and Black’s touchdowns against the Chargers. One of those scores stood out as a potential touchdown of the year because of how challenging the play was.
Nonetheless, it came in a losing effort, which is frustrating the player, as the Raiders’ offense has yet to climb out of this dark hole they find themselves in.
“It’s not fun,“ Bowers said about the Raiders losing their 10th game. “We come here to win games, obviously, and that hasn’t been the case. So, we just need to get better and keep improving.”
Las Vegas will look to play spoiler in Week 14 when it plays the Denver Broncos, who are coming off an overtime win over the Washington Commanders.
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