Fair enough, and admirable.
Consider: Smith was taking the same chances he did a week earlier against the Patriots, trying to thread needles while unleashing deep balls. The Chargers defensive backs, though, were more hawkish than their New England counterparts, and Smith paid the price, getting intercepted on a tipped ball on the first play of the game then later inside the 5-yard line and in the end zone.
Carroll said he would have preferred Smith checked down to, namely, underneath routes.
Brock Bowers being limited by his injured left knee was a factor in the first-team All-Pro tight end being, well, less a factor than usual.
“Geno’s a 70 percent guy, and he wasn’t that tonight, and more so was because of the attempts that we made,” Carroll said. “I thought that took away from that, and we’ve just got to take what’s given to us. I’m not sure that that’s the case until I see the film, but I bet that’s what it is.”
You’d think the affable Carroll would be a big fan of Ted Talks. How about being on the receiving end of a Beast Mode Talk?
Lynch gave Jeanty advice on how to sell-out on play-action, to remember to “get those legs up” on certain runs.
“Just all the little things,” said Jeanty, who rushed for 43 yards on 11 carries but was curiously on the sidelines late in the first half, replaced by Zamir White and Dylan Laube.
Yeah, there was a certain balance missing. Then again, the Raiders were chasing the Chargers all night.
“What that really feels like is a real missed opportunity, just in general,” Carroll said. “But in the division, it’s a real opportunity, and we didn’t play well enough on the offensive side, with the turnovers that add up.
“We know we missed the opportunity, and there’s so many different ways that we’ll get better.”
While every game in the NFL feels like a season unto itself, the silver lining here is the Raiders still have 15 games to go. And it begins with an even shorter-than-usual week courtesy of another cross-country trip, this one to Washington.
“I feel like I’ve got to be a lot better for our guys,” Smith said. “I know I have to, and I will be.
“I’m never going to make any excuses about anything. I’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better, and we’ve got a short week to improve on that.”
But plenty of time for more pep talks.
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