Review of the Las Vegas Raiders' 32-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers

Antonio Pierce waxed poetic about his Las Vegas Raiders during his media appearance this week in advance of Sunday afternoon's home game against the upcoming Pittsburgh Steelers, focusing on the fundamentals.

After 60 minutes of football and a worrying 32-13 defeat, it's obvious that the Silver and Black didn't heed their head coach's beck and call.

The Raiders were fundamentally bad for much of the loss.

What started well after an impressive 10-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a three-yard touchdown plunge by running back Alexander Mattison to answer the Steelers' opening-drive field goal was Las Vegas with a lead of 7:3.

It was a testament to the good that the Raiders can produce: a determined and aggressive defense held the opponent to just three points, while a concentrated passing and running offense efficiently penetrated the end zone for seven points.

Unfortunately for Las Vegas, that was all the good the team could muster, as mental errors, blunders and butterfingers helped Pittsburgh score 26 unanswered points and take a commanding 29-7 lead in the fourth quarter. In fact, the Steelers grabbed the Raider by the throat and squeezed him after running back Najee Harris' 36-yard touchdown run to make it 22-7 – a carry that had the formidable tailback cutting through the Las Vegas defense like a hot knife through butter.

“Our record, as it shows, is 2-4. It's not good enough. “We don’t train well enough, we don’t play well enough and we don’t pay attention to the details well enough,” Pierce lamented in the post-game press conference. “More importantly, when you turn the ball over, you don’t give yourself a chance. Minus three again plus a blocked punt.”

Pierce watched as his Raiders (2-4 overall) committed three turnovers – two fumbles (one by rookie tailback Dylan Laube), which the Steelers (4-2) turned into a touchdown on the ensuing drive to take a 12-7 lead the other was a fumble by Ameer Abdullah at the one-yard line – both fumbles were recovered by TJ Watt; the third was an interception on a throw by Aidan O'Connell) – and the special teams unit was defeated , as AJ Cole III's punt attempt was blocked. Sunday's loss was a textbook example of bad Raiders football, as all three aspects of the game – offense, defense and special teams – showcased their impotence.

Even when the Steelers' struggling offense tried to outdo the Raiders with their own ineptitude, Las Vegas couldn't take advantage as the Silver & Black were plagued by mental errors (you can blame the refs, but the home team did). ). their best to sink their own ship) and the examples were numerous.

On the Steelers' touchdown drive, Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo intercepted Justin Fields' pass, but defensive tackle Matthew Butler faced a rough passer call when his body weight landed on the Pittsburgh quarterback. Four plays later, the Steelers' signal-caller outran the Raiders' defense for a three-yard score.

Before Abdullah's fumble, Mattison caught a six-yard pass from O'Connell, but a disallowed downfield penalty (against rookie left guard Jackson Powers-Johnson) negated that. That would have cut Pittsburgh's lead to (possibly) 22-14. One play later, Abdullah was called in just before a touchdown, and on 2nd-and-goal from the one-yard line, Abdullah coughed up the ball while Steelers safety DeShon Elliot recovered the loose ball.

On the Raiders' next drive, O'Connell had a bad miss when Steelers cornerback Donte Jackson intercepted the pass, and on the next play Fields ran for a seven-yard touchdown for a 29-7 lead.

O'Connell led the Raiders' offense to a visit to the end zone after Pittsburgh's touchdown – the quarterback was not in trouble on the series and found wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson for a nine-yard touchdown to close the deficit to 32-13 reduce.

Still, Las Vegas' offense was characterized by conservatism and ineffectiveness for much of the game.

“Yes, there were some shots on the field. Obviously we didn’t take them,” Pierce said. “The quarterback did a good job of getting the ball out of his hands early, especially early because that's what we want to do, we want to get completions. You saw that on the first trip.

“When you're making shots on the field, a lot of things come into play. You want the look and sometimes you just have to let it rip.”

Let's hit the quick slants when the Raiders fell behind and couldn't keep up with the Steelers:

– Deablo returned and was a bright spot in the Raiders’ defense totaling six tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and one interception that was negated by a penalty. The linebacker was out there playing with the impact and security he had at Virginia Tech.

– Unsurprisingly, rookie tight end Brock Bowers led the Raiders in goals (10) and receptions (nine) on Sunday. He rushed for 71 yards with a long catch of 18 yards. Wide receiver DJ Turner threw the longest pass of the afternoon: a 30-yard strike that bounced the wide out for more than two defenders.

– Surprisingly fast wide receiver Tre Tucker was only targeted twice and didn't catch any of the targets to get a big fat donut (zeros) across his finish line.

– O'Connell finished 27 of 40 for 227 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked just once, but despite an accurate start to the game, the second-year signal-caller sailed his passes and missed the rest of the game.

– His counterpart, Fields, was also a scattershot, going 14 of 24 for 145 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions (official) as he was sacked three times. But he had 11 carries for 59 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

– Fields’ record on the ground was more than the Raiders’ ground game total as Las Vegas managed 57 yards on 19 carries (with one touchdown). Mattison led the group with 14 carries for 33 yards, while Abdullah threw for 24 yards on four carries. Laube didn't get another carry after his fumble and ended up with one carry for zero yards.

Note quote:

“As for losing? It starts with discipline. We had four penalties, but they were critical moments. The turnover thing is embarrassing. We don't respect the ball enough and therefore don't even deserve the chance to put ourselves in a position to win. Details. Obviously adjustments will be made as the game progresses. We talked about the first trip, it was a hell of a job there. What does that lead to then? I think the defense did a really good job in the first half when I attacked. As the game continued, you noticed that things were getting a little more leaky. Here too it is really work. We just have to go back and get to work. It’s very cliche, but it’s true.” – Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce on what needs to be done to stop the losing cycle