As a coach with a defensive background, Antonio Pierce isn’t very comfortable with the idea of having to throw the ball 43 times in a game.
But that’s exactly what the Raiders did in their 34-19 loss to Miami on Sunday, a result Pierce explained on Monday by saying his team had to throw more because they were playing from behind.
Pierce emphasized that it’s still important for the Raiders to try and build a strong running game, even though they attempted just 12 rushes for 49 yards in the first half. The issue is that the Raiders have struggled with their running game all season, which is a big part of their problem.
While Pierce might not want to throw the ball 43 times, that’s the situation the Raiders are in. Right now, passing is their best — and perhaps only — option.
“Not to talk about other teams, but other teams with really elite quarterbacks and throwing the ball 40 times doesn’t equal a win,” Pierce said. “So you want to find that balance, and for us, that’s what we’re still searching for.”
The Raiders (2-8) have now lost six straight games and are looking for many answers on offense. They entered Monday ranked 30th in yards per game (285.0), dead last in rushing yards (75.2), and 25th in scoring (18.7 points per game).
Gardner Minshew remains the starting quarterback and didn’t play poorly against the Dolphins. He completed 30 of 43 passes for 282 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
With the Dolphins taking away the deep passing game, Minshew focused on shorter, underneath routes, especially to tight end Brock Bowers, who caught 13 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Throwing to Bowers makes sense from a strategy standpoint, and new interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner is doing his best to make the most of the team’s current situation.
With no deep passing game and no effective running game, the offense is very one-dimensional. It’s a difficult recipe for success, and the results have shown that. Things could improve at some point, but with the season already past the halfway mark, it’s uncertain when that might happen.
“We’re down, man,” Minshew said. “I’ve been on teams where you send it in, but we’re not doing that. We practice hard, dude. We come up, we show up and lift on Mondays. We haven’t been getting the results and we’ve been plays short, but I feel like we continue on our process, continue trying to get better. It’s going to break for us.”
