{"id":734539,"date":"2025-11-07T08:50:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/?p=734539"},"modified":"2025-11-07T08:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:50:21","slug":"geno-smith-battered-by-relentless-denver-defense-in-raiders-10-7-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/sports\/geno-smith-battered-by-relentless-denver-defense-in-raiders-10-7-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Geno Smith battered by relentless Denver defense in Raiders\u2019 10-7 loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By PAT GRAHAM
Updated 11:46 PM PST, November 6, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Las
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith heads off the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DENVER (AP) \u2014 After spending almost the entire game on the run from the Denver Broncos\u2019 relentless pass rush, Geno Smith could barely walk without pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Battered and bruised, Smith hobbled out of the locker room following the Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 10-7 loss to the Broncos on Thursday night in which he was sacked six times. He was feeling all those hits \u2014 especially a bruised quad \u2014 but also a bit encouraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being heavy underdogs, this game was right there for Smith and the Raiders (2-7) to win. It was the little \u2014 and not-so-little \u2014 things that added up, like sacks that knocked them out of field-goal range. Or a negated touchdown after a penalty for offensive pass interference on a pick play by Dont\u2019e Thornton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or a deep pass that was dropped, which would\u2019ve set up the Raiders in Denver territory just before halftime. Or a blocked punt in the third quarter that led to Denver\u2019s go-ahead field goal. Or the missed field goal from 48 yards by Daniel Carlson that would\u2019ve tied it with 4:26 remaining, after which the Raiders never got the ball back as the Broncos (8-2) sealed their seventh straight victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the Raiders stop beating the Raiders, we\u2019ll go out there and we can beat anybody in this league,\u201d said the 35-year-old Smith, whose team committed 11 penalties for 83 yards. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop beating ourselves first. It seems like that\u2019s been a recurring thing every single week. I know it\u2019s not for our lack of effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think guys are just learning as we go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Raiders dealt with a patchwork offensive line, too, after losing right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson to a left leg injury during the game and left guard Dylan Parham to a sprained ankle. That didn\u2019t help against a defense that has 46 sacks this season and is on pace for an NFL-record 78.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe fought to the end,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the hits Smith took, the one that stung most came early in the fourth quarter when he scrambled out of the pocket and was tripped up by Broncos pass rusher Nik Bonitto. As Smith fell to the ground, 290-pound defensive lineman Malcolm Roach landed on him. Smith stayed down for a minute before gingerly making his way to the sideline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He left for only two offensive plays, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe wants to be out there with the guys, and really respect that. He\u2019s a great player,\u201d said tight end Brock Bowers, who caught just one pass for 31 yards as the Broncos blanketed him even without star cornerback Pat Surtain II (strained pectoral muscle).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep the quad loose, Smith jogged on the sideline and rode a stationary bike. Leaving was never an option. Not in a tight game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never want to leave my teammates out there alone,\u201d said Smith, who threw for 143 yards with one interception. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s a big responsibility of mine to be out there and to do whatever I can to help us win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith drove Las Vegas into field-goal range with around 9:30 remaining. But then he was sacked, which prevented a potential tying kick. Later, after Kyu Blu Kelly made his second interception of the game, the Raiders were in business again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they came away empty when Carlson pushed a 48-yard field-goal attempt to the right. He missed an extra point the week before in a 30-29 overtime loss to Jacksonville, and his game-winning try in Week 4 was blocked by the Bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got to kick better,\u201d coach Pete Carroll said. \u201cI know it kills him, too. He wants to make every one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s just the way it went all night \u2014 and just the way it\u2019s gone all season, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn order to be a good team, you\u2019ve got to play clean. I keep saying that every week,\u201d Smith said. \u201cYou can\u2019t have missed assignments. You can\u2019t have penalties. You can\u2019t have penalties negate big plays. Can\u2019t have turnovers. Those are the things that hurt teams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And keep them from beating good ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After spending almost the entire game on the run from the Denver Broncos\u2019 relentless pass rush, Geno Smith could barely walk without pain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":734542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[284860,193539,269334,41453,284842,284848,3642,61837,284851,24010,284857,64816,284854,3627,181374,193581,284845,373],"class_list":["post-734539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-bears","tag-brock-bowers","tag-daniel-carlson","tag-denver-broncos","tag-donte-thornton","tag-dylan-parham","tag-football","tag-geno-smith","tag-jackson-powers-johnson","tag-jacksonville","tag-kyu-blu-kelly","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-malcolm-roach","tag-nfl","tag-nik-bonitto","tag-pat-surtain-ii","tag-pete-carroll","tag-sports"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/raiders.webp","author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/author\/admin\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734545,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734539\/revisions\/734545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/734542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}