The Las Vegas Raiders pulled off an upset Sunday, defeating the Baltimore Ravens, 26–23, but it wasn’t a perfect performance from the away team. The Raiders didn’t make it in the end zone in the first half and were down 10 at two different parts of the matchup.
The Raiders’ first quarter was filled exclusively with punts, the second saw an interception from Gardner Minshew, and they didn’t score a touchdown until the end of the third. It was the push in the fourth quarter that got them their first win of the season.
Down, 23–13, with just over 12 minutes to go in the game, the Raiders were able to ignite a comeback and keep the Ravens from scoring for the rest of the day. The win was overall impressive, but head coach Antonio Pierce knows the team still has a lot to work on.
Looking at how the Raiders played on all sides of the ball in the fourth quarter, Pierce said that is “what it needs to look like for all four quarters.”
The head coach wants to keep the momentum of the last quarter and not repeat the mistakes from the other quarters from Week 2.
“We’ve got a lot of things that we need to correct,” Pierce said, via the Associated Press. “It was a win yesterday, but there were a lot of things in that first quarter that were ugly, in that first half that were ugly and in that third quarter that were ugly.”
The Raiders face just about the easiest opponent they could face next week in the Carolina Panthers, who have looked messy so far this season. The Panthers are 0–2 and just benched former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young in favor of veteran quarterback Andy Dalton.
The Panthers have a long list of issues surrounding their team, so whether the quarterback change will be enough is yet to be seen. Right now, Pierce is focused internally rather than on his opponent.
“We’re not worried about the Panthers,” he said. “We’ve got to fix the Raiders.”
The Raiders are 5.5-point favorites heading into Sunday’s matchup, and if they’re going to win, as the odds suggest they should, there are a few areas they can improve on.
The Raiders’ run game was essentially nonexistent Sunday. They had just 27 rushing yards 17 attempts for an average of 1.6 yards per carry. They have the fewest rushing yards through two weeks in the league (98) and the fewest yards per carry (2.5). They only have two rushing first downs, which is also at the bottom of all 32 teams.
They do have some strengths on offense they can continue to use, including first-round tight end Brock Bowers. He has the second-most receiving yards on the team this season, just 13 yards behind star wide receiver Davante Adams. They need to be making an impact right out the gate going forward.
Minshew is excelling far beyond expectations, but he is known to have flash-in-the-pan moments and then fizzle out. If he can keep up being among the NFL leaders in completion percentage (77.5), completions (55) and passing yards (533), the offense will become a real threat all game, rather than just in comeback moments.
