When Raiders coach Antonio Pierce chose to pass on going for it on fourth-and-1 twice in the fourth quarter on Sunday, his decisions reflected more than just his tendency to play it safe.
They also highlighted his lack of confidence in the Raiders’ run game against the Chargers.
The running game did not inspire much confidence for Pierce, ending the game with 71 yards on 22 carries and only one first down in the 22-10 loss at Los Angeles.
Zamir White gained 44 yards on 13 rushes and was stopped on a fourth-and-1 early in the first quarter, leading to a Chargers field goal. He also lost a fumble in the third quarter.
So when faced with a fourth-and-1 at the Chargers 14-yard line early in the fourth quarter and trailing by nine points, Pierce decided to send out the field goal unit to cut the deficit to 16-10.
On the next drive, the Raiders faced a fourth-and-1 at the LA 43-yard line, and this time Pierce chose to punt for field position. The Chargers then scored a touchdown after a 61-yard run by J.K. Dobbins, which put the game out of reach.
Pierce will need to be more aggressive in these situations if the Raiders want to achieve much this season. However, he will also need a dependable running game, meaning White needs to perform like he did in the final four games of last season when he rushed for 397 yards, and the offensive line must create more opportunities for him and the other running backs.
“The ability to run the ball, that’s critical late in ballgames,” Pierce said Monday. “We’ve got to do that and we’ve got to do a good job of finishing. It starts up front with our O-line.
Starts with our coaches as well. I’m going to keep going to our backs. We’ve got to run through contact, we’ve got to run with low pad level, we’ve got to run with a certain intent. We didn’t do that yesterday and it didn’t show up enough.”
