Raiders coach Antonio Pierce didn’t hesitate when asked about his team’s current performance.
“Our record is what it shows. We’re 2-4 — it’s not good enough,” Pierce said after the 32-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. “We’re not coaching well enough, we’re not playing well enough, and we’re not paying attention to details.”
“More importantly, we’re gonna keep going back to it, when you turn the ball over, you don’t give yourself a chance.”
Las Vegas had a chance to even its record and possibly get a fresh start. Meanwhile, the Steelers came into the game on a two-game losing streak after starting the season 3-0, dealing with a quarterback situation between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, and showing one of the least effective offenses in the NFL.
But the Steelers outperformed the Raiders.
Las Vegas’ effort was filled with mistakes, including three turnovers, four penalties, and a blocked punt that gave Pittsburgh the ball on the Raiders’ 9-yard line in the third quarter.
“It starts with discipline,” Pierce said. “We had four penalties, but they happened at critical moments. The turnovers are embarrassing. We don’t respect the ball enough, so we don’t even deserve a chance to win.”
Looking for a boost, Pierce gave the offense to Aidan O’Connell, who had been backing up Gardner Minshew for the first five weeks.
O’Connell completed 27 of 40 passes for 227 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
One week after gaining 330 yards of offense but turning the ball over three times against Denver, the Raiders managed only 275 yards — just 57 on the ground. They scored on only 2 of 11 drives.
“We can’t put our defense in a position like that where we’re not running plays and not on the field for very long,” O’Connell said. “We need to sustain drives and obviously can’t turn the ball over, starting with myself. It’s frustrating, with some self-inflicted wounds.”
On defense, the Raiders allowed Pittsburgh, which ranked 23rd in offense, to gain 293 yards and score on seven of ten drives, not counting the last drive that ended with kneel-downs.
The Steelers had previously scored on only 39.2% of their drives.
Last week, the Steelers’ longest play against Dallas was a 21-yard pass from Fields to George Pickens. On Sunday, Najee Harris rushed for 106 yards on 14 carries (7.6 yards per carry), including a 36-yard touchdown, while Fields went 14 of 24 for 145 yards and added 59 yards rushing with two rushing touchdowns.
“I thought we did a good job tackling in the first half, but as the game went on, we became a bit leakier,” Pierce said. “So really, it’s about getting back to work. It’s very cliché, but it’s true.”
