HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — When Raiders coach Antonio Pierce twice opted to pass up going for it on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter Sunday, those decisions spoke to more than his penchant as someone wanting to play it safe.
It also spoke to how little faith he had in Las Vegas’ run game against the Chargers.
The ground game did little to develop much confidence for Pierce, finishing with 71 yards on 22 carries and just one first down in the 22-10 loss at Los Angeles.
Zamir White gained 44 yards on 13 rushes and was stopped on a fourth-and-1 midway in the first quarter that led to a Chargers field goal. He also lost a fumble in the third.
So when facing fourth-and-1 at the Chargers 14-yard line early in the fourth and down nine points, Pierce sent his field goal unit out to cut the deficit to 16-10.
A drive later, the Raiders had fourth-and-1 at the LA 43, and this time Pierce played the field position game and punted. The Chargers, thanks largely to a 61-yard run by J.K. Dobbins, went 92 yards to score a touchdown and essentially put away the game.
Pierce will need to be more aggressive in those situations if the Raiders are to do much of anything this season. But he’ll also need a running game he can depend on, which means White has to resemble the player who rushed for 397 yards over the final four games last season and the offensive line will need to create more holes for him and the other backs.
“The ability to run the ball, that’s critical late in ballgames,” Pierce said Monday. “We’ve got to do that and we’ve got to do a good job of finishing. It starts up front with our O-line. Starts with our coaches as well. I’m going to keep going to our backs. We’ve got to run through contact, we’ve got to run with low pad level, we’ve got to run with a certain intent. We didn’t do that yesterday and it didn’t show up enough.”
What’s working
The defense did what it needed to give the offense a chance, especially in the first half when Los Angeles was held to just two field goals. The second was set up by a fumble by Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew that put the Chargers 12 yards from the end zone. But the defense, again, stepped up and kept the Chargers from scoring a touchdown.
Two big Dobbins runs in the second half took much of the shine off the defensive effort, but if the Raiders keep getting that kind of high-quality play, they should be in a lot of games even if their offense continues to struggle.
What needs help
Teams can’t lose the turnover battle 3-0 on the road and expect to win. Minshew’s fumble, in particular, was especially costly because it not only gave the Chargers three points with 26 seconds left in the first half, it cost the Raiders a potential scoring opportunity. The Raiders had a first down at the Chargers 48, and even just a field goal would have put Las Vegas up a touchdown and established a much different tone entering the second 30 minutes.
They can definitely clean this up. The Raiders committed no turnovers over the final four games last season and won three of them.
Stock up
AJ Cole has been a first-team Associated Press All-Pro two of the past three seasons and is off to a great start this year. Part of the reason Pierce punted on that one fourth down in the fourth quarter was how much he believed in Cole, who delivered by pinning the Chargers at their 8. He averaged 53 yards (47.2 net) on five punts, three ending up inside the 20.
Stock down
Pierce is known as a players coach, but he has talked about the importance of drawing the line. He’s going to have to make sure the players clearly see that line after a skirmish between the teams following the Chargers’ clinching TD.
“We play football, not boxing,” Pierce said
Pierce has shown he can run a disciplined team. After he was promoted to the interim coach at midseason last year, the Raiders committed 31 penalties the rest of the way — best in the NFL. They committed just two infractions for 15 yards on Sunday.
Injuries
Pierce said he didn’t know the status of defensive end Tyree Wilson, but according to NFL Network, it is a sprained knee and not believed to be serious enough to keep him out an extended time. But the Raiders still are suddenly thin at that position with Wilson and Malcolm Koonce, on injured reserve with a knee injury, out. Pierce said general manager Tom Telesco was looking to find additional help.
Key number
14 — The number of times DE Maxx Crosby has played every defensive snap since the beginning of the 2022 season. No other defensive lineman has done that more than once over that same span.
Next steps
The challenge doesn’t get easier as the Raiders travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens on Sunday.
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