Las Vegas Raiders starting quarterback Geno Smith simply had an awful game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, which led to Raiders head coach Pete Carroll making a change at the position.
Smith was clearly ineffective for the Raiders, and it showed in his statistics.
What Happened to Raiders QB Geno Smith?
Well, what happened to Smith was that his efforts at leading the Raiders’ offense simply were not good enough.
Against the Chiefs in a 31-0 shutout victory for Kansas City, Smith was 10-of-16 passing for 67 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. That’s not a winning formula for an NFL starting quarterback at all.
After seeing Smith continue to struggle, Carroll benched Smith in favor of Kenny Pickett. However, he may still keep his starting job despite the awful performance at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Who else is calling for Geno Smith to be benched 🖐️ pic.twitter.com/wdCQ15YxI7
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) October 19, 2025
The Chiefs were so far ahead that head coach Andy Reid took his starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, out of the game. His reasons were understandable, as the Chiefs were well ahead of the Raiders at that point.
It will be worth watching whether Carroll makes the bold decision to give Pickett a start next week. Pickett was 2-for-2 passing for four yards in his time on the field. Raiders fans might have gotten a sneak peek at who starts at QB going forward. It’s not clear at this time if Carroll will stick with Smith, but he obviously decided to bench Smith on Sunday.
In the PFSN NFL Offense Impact metrics, the Raiders offense has a 65.8 Offense Impact Score and is ranked 28th in the league.
For the season entering Sunday’s game, Smith had 1,350 passing yards with seven touchdowns but 10 interceptions. That’s way too many interceptions for a starting QB in the NFL to have. Giving the ball back to the opposing team that much isn’t going to lead to success at all.
Smith was a second-round draft pick of the New York Jets back in the 2013 NFL Draft. Besides the Jets and Raiders, Smith has also played for the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, and Seattle Seahawks. He’s in his first season with the Raiders, and Smith probably hoped that a fresh start under Carroll’s leadership would be good.
Well, as for Sunday, Smith found a seat on the bench and watched Pickett lead the Raiders offense through the rest of the team’s loss to Kansas City.
