Raiders' Struggles on Offense Being Caused by Multiple Factors

The Las Vegas Raiders' anemic offense showed up for a third week in a row against the Carolina Panthers. The unit's struggles continue to be on full display.

Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) is flushed from the pocket by the Carolina Panthers during the third quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders lost embarrassingly in their home opener to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Raiders did not play well on either side of the ball. The ordinarily dependable Raiders defense looked confused from the opening drive of the game, and the Raiders offense looked the same as it has for almost all three games this season except the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens. 

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce made it clear he was disappointed in everyone on the team. Pierce noted that the offense again failed to pass or run well and that the unit not only did not play well but also did not play well for long spurts.  

“It looked like everything,” Pierce said after the loss. “It started with the run game, passing game wasn't there,” Pierce said. I mean, look, obviously you're watching, your eyes go in different places, but. We had a shot, I mean, there's some things we wanted to do that showed up, it was just here, you don't see it for another 10 minutes or 12 minutes or another quarter or even at all, so just not a good performance by us at all today.”

Although the Raiders offense can do plenty of things better, Pierce noted penalties and the team's lack of success on early downs as two primary areas for improvement. Pierce also pointed to the numerous long third-down conversions the Raiders were forced to attempt all game as part of the problem.

“Just penalties and first-and-10. The next down is probably second-and-8, second-and-9 a majority of the time,” Pierce said. “ If you can't win on early downs, teams are going to just keep teeing off on us and have their full arsenal of third down menu, and that's really what you're seeing. So until we can do better, either run the ball or be more productive, get there, get some positive plays on first and second down. It's not going to be good, but we'll -- we got to work at it. It's a long season, and it's week three. We'll go into the lab, and we really got to chip away.”

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