For Geno Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders, the season is a battle against themselves. Sitting at 2–7 with their season on the brink, the Raiders are looking for answers, and Geno Smith believes he’s found the first one.

“The last eight games of the season, I wanna be the best in the league in terms of protecting the football,” Smith said. “I mean, that’s really what it is. And then just cut it loose, man, we gotta score points.”

Geno’s promise comes at a time when he’s under a lot of pressure.

In nine games, Smith has recorded 12 interceptions, the second most this season. The 35-year-old has been sacked 27 times, the fourth most this season, tying with the New York Jets’ Justin Fields.

The Raiders are clearly struggling, largely due to their inability to protect the ball and score consistently. They’ve put up only 139 points so far this season.

Per Jesse Merrick of the Silver & Black Sports Network, Smith opened up about his mindset for the remaining games. His utmost priority is to prevent turnovers by keeping the ball safe and scoring more.

“We gotta score points. We gotta score a lot more points than we have. We gotta pick it up.”

Geno’s current touchdown-to-interception ratio sits at 11-to-12, which is simply not good enough. On top of that, the team hasn’t been able to protect him, leaving the quarterback under constant pressure. In their recent matchup against the Broncos, Las Vegas fell 10-7, and Geno Smith was sacked six times, the most he’s taken in a single game this year.

Amid the struggles, there’s a bright spot for the quarterback.

Recently, Smith shared an injury update after fans saw him limping during last week’s game against the Denver Broncos. He revealed that his quad “feels a lot better.” Smith even turned up for Thursday’s practice ahead of the Dallas game.

As Geno strives to do better, Las Vegas still faces a major problem. 

Have Pete Carroll’s schemes run their course?

The Raiders’ head coach, Pete Carroll, has a predictable style that Dallas may target on Monday. While talking to 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said that Pete’s coaching style hasn’t evolved since his time with the Seattle Seahawks. 

“Pete is used to having big backs, physicals. You go to Marshawn Lynch, people like that, you can turn around and hand the ball 30 times, things like that. He wants to do that,” Brian said.

The problem? The formula that worked out for the HC may have run its course.

Following his old approach, Pete signed a four-year, $35.9 million contract with running back rookie Ashton Jeanty, who weighs 208 lbs. With 547 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Jeanty has been promising, but their offense needs to improve further.  

On the defensive side, Brian said that Pete is also sticking with old concepts, including spot-drop Cover 3. Linebackers and safeties drop into zones exactly as they did years ago, and the offense could see it coming. Brian’s assessment puts Pete and his techniques under pressure.

The head coach must update his playbook if Carroll wants to bring both units back on track, especially the offensive side. His approach must match today’s faster, more versatile offensive trends. If the unit can’t turn the game around against Dallas, the noise around Carroll’s future will only grow louder.