The Las Vegas Raiders fell just short in a heartbreaker, losing 25-24 to the Chicago Bears on September 28 at Allegiant Stadium after a blocked field goal sealed their fate.
It was a tough outing for Geno Smith, who went 14-for-21 for 117 yards, throwing two touchdowns but also three interceptions. Turnovers have remained a persistent problem for the veteran quarterback over the last three weeks.
Despite the rough performance from Smith, the Raiders’ defense gave the team a chance to win, and Maxx Crosby was at the heart of wreaking havoc for the Bears’ offense. Nonetheless, his efforts didn’t result in a win, and after the game, he was emotional about the result.
“We’re really close,” Crosby said after the loss to the Bears (h/t Vegas Sports Today). “We’re right there, came on the last play. We got to find a way to not make it so hard on ourselves. You know what I mean? It’s the only thing we can do. Freaking hurts, it sucks. I hate losing. Everybody in this locker room is losing, so we got to just find ways to win.”
Maxx Crosby Would’ve Wanted More Turnovers for Raiders
Las Vegas had four turnovers (three interceptions and one fumble lost), and the Bears only had one interception. As a result, Crosby is being hard on himself because he couldn’t generate more turnovers to kill drives for the Bears and offset the ones that the Raiders offense had.
“I work on trying to take the ball away every single day,” Crosby added. “It’s literally what I do all year round. I know a couple of them have been taken away this year for me for some weird reason, but finally getting one was good. I could have had a couple more today as well. Always room to improve and definitely going to keep working on improving.”
Geno Smith Let Down His Raiders Teammates
Although Crosby is stating that he could’ve done more, Smith is taking responsibility for wasting his teammates’ efforts in the loss to the Bears. The veteran believes that his three turnovers are what led to the team’s downfall against Chicago.
“No. 1, take care of the ball, not throwing interceptions,” Smith told the media after the loss. “That’s the simplest way I can put it to you. First of all, I owe it to my teammates to go out there and play better. I felt like we had a great week of practice; I felt like the process was there.
“I felt like I was feeling good about what I was seeing. The game plan was great. Guys fought their tails off. We deserve to get this win and I let those guys down. So, there’s a lot of things I’m going to have to fix within myself. That’s the reality.”
After starting the season with a Week 1 win, Las Vegas have dropped three straight games and now head on the road at 1-3 to face an Indianapolis Colts team coming off a Week 4 loss. They’ll be eager to bounce back with a win.
Smith will also look to rebound, but it remains to be seen if head coach Pete Carroll will make a quick change at quarterback if the veteran continues turning the ball over.