Raiders' Offense Must Give Defense a Chance

It has not been easy for the Las Vegas Raiders to score points over the last few weeks, and their defense has struggled because of it. Coach Antonio Pierce revealed his thoughts regarding defensive play and limiting turnovers to help the defense succeed.

Sep 29, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce applauds the effort of his team against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders (2-5) have one glaring issue and it is not the defense. Turnovers have been priority number one for this team as three-straight losses can be credited to the copious amount of giveaways that the offense is coughing up.

Yes, the Raiders defense is allowing a fifth-worst 26.7 points per game, but a good portion of those points have been due to opposing teams scoring directly following a turnover. The defensive effort overall this season has been solid, especially on third down.

In Sunday's 20-15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams (2-4), the Rams were just 2-10 on third conversions, punting six of their 11 drives. The defense stood on its head and played sensational when the offense was unable not find the endzone all game.

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce was asked on Monday about the defense's performance and what must be improved to give it a better chance to get stops.

"I think one of the bright spots for our defense this year has been third down," Pierce said. "If you look at each and every game, we've been right there. I don't know where we are ranked in the National Football League, but I'm assuming in the top [half], we've done a good job of that. A lot of that goes into when you get them off the field on third down; that converges into special teams, right? And we need to get more positive yards with our returners and get 10-plus yards, give better field position for our offense. Because, I said before, we like to play that game -- full-court defense, half-court offense -- and our defense does a good job."

Pierce would be absolutely correct regarding their third-down defense. The Raiders rank second in the NFL in opposing third down conversion percentage, only allowing a conversion 28.9% of the time. That is way too good for a defense that is bottom tier in most other categories.

"[Defensive Coordinator] Patrick Graham and [Senior Defensive Assistant] Rob Ryan, those guys come up with the third down and short yards report," Pierce said. "[They] do a really good job of being detailed and dialed in, and our players really stood out yesterday on doing that, especially on short yardage."

The Raiders' biggest issue all season has been turnovers, and it has led to short field position for the opponent and caused the Raiders' defense to give up more points than they should. It is much easier for an opposing offense to drive 30-40 yards to find points compared to a full-field 70-yard drive.

10 turnovers in the past three games have led to three straight losses for the Raiders. Seven interceptions and three fumbles have put their defense behind the eight ball and made it very difficult to hold teams to scoreless drives resulting in losses.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew II threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in Sunday's loss and it cost them the game, losing by five points. Pierce was asked about being able to limit the turnovers from Minshew going forward and mentioned the veteran quarterback getting out of his own way.

"[H]e's [Minshew] gotta get out of his own head," Pierce said. "He's a quarterback, he's been in this league, he understands it. Obviously, we've encouraged him, very positive on the sideline with everything that was going on yesterday. Our team [felt] like 'no blinking', that's all you kept hearing on the sideline. Dealing with adversity, I thought our defense did a good job of responding even though, on the sudden change [turnover], they did score. But, throughout the game, we kept fighting, even at the end of the game, when we had a chance to get another stop, we did, got offense the ball again with less than 2 minutes to see if we can go ahead for the win."

The Raiders will desperately seek a bounce-back performance at home this Sunday against the only undefeated team left in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs (6-0). It will be a tall task to gut out a victory due to the fact that the Raiders have not beaten the Chiefs at home since moving to Las Vegas in 2020.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.