Raiders squander chance to even record and start over in error-filled loss to Steelers | News, Sports, Employment

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, left, rubs his face during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Las vegas (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

By WG RAMIREZ Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Raiders coach Antonio Pierce didn’t hesitate when asked if his team is any good right now.

“Our record is what it shows. We’re 2-4, it’s not good enough,” Pierce said after Sunday’s 32-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. “We are not training well enough, we are not playing well enough and we are not detailed enough.

“More importantly, we’re going to keep coming back, when you turn the ball over, we don’t give you a chance.”

Las Vegas had a chance to match its record and possibly start over. Meanwhile, the Steelers are coming off a two-game skid after opening the season 3-0, have a quarterback controversy between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson and have displayed one of the NFL’s most inefficient offenses.

But the Steelers were far superior to the Raiders.

Las Vegas’ effort was riddled with mistakes, including three turnovers, four penalties and a blocked punt that gave the Steelers the ball at the Raiders’ 9-yard line in the third quarter.

“It starts with discipline,” Pierce said. “We have four penalties, but they were at critical moments. The billing issue is embarrassing. We don’t respect the ball enough, so we don’t even deserve a chance to put ourselves in a position to win.”

Looking for a spark, Pierce turned the offense over to Aidan O’Connell, who backed up Gardner Minshew for the first five weeks.

O’Connell completed 27 of 40 passes for 227 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

A week after producing 330 yards of offense and turning the ball over three times in Denver, the Raiders mustered just 275 yards, just 57 on the ground. They scored just 2 of 11 possessions.

“We can’t put our defense in a place like that where we’re not making plays and we’re not on the field for a long time,” O’Connell said. “We’re trying to do a better job of keeping momentum going and obviously we can’t turn the ball over as well, starting with myself. Just frustrating, some self-inflicted wounds.”

On the other side of the ball, the Raiders allowed Pittsburgh, which ranked 23rd in offense, to score 293 yards while scoring on seven of 10 possessions, not including their final drive that ended in kneeling.

The Steelers came in after scoring just 39.2% of their games.

Last week, the Steelers’ longest play against Dallas was a 21-yard pass from Fields to George Pickens. On Sunday, Najee Harris shredded Las Vegas’ porous defense for 106 yards on 14 carries (7.6 yards per carry), including a 36-yard touchdown run, while Fields finished 14-of-24 for 145 yards and 59 rushing yards with two touchdowns. on the ground

“I think defensively, I thought really well in the first half of the scrimmages and as the game went on, you saw that I was a little more leaky.” Pierce said. “So again, it really is work. We have to go back and get to work. It’s very cliche, but it’s true.”

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