The Las Vegas Raiders suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, with poor offense and ineffective play-calling. The game was a disaster; the three points came when Minnesota's kicker Greg Joesph made a 36-yard field goal with 1:57 left.
The Raiders' offense had a tough day; they passed for 146 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per pass. Raiders quarterback Aiden O'Connell completed 21 of 32 passes, but the passes were consistently short. He was sacked four times and often held onto the ball for too long, indicating a need for improvement.
O'Connell takes too long to go through his reads and does not move in the pocket to extend plays. Also, the play calling from Bo "Bubble Screen" Hardegree does not help either. Hardegree calls way too many bubble screens and shot passes. On Sunday, you can see the Vikings sitting on all the short routes.
In today's NFL, you must be able to throw the ball down the field. Also, the Raiders offensive line needs to protect the quarterback. They could not run the ball either; they rushed for 56 yards. To make things worse, running back Josh Jacobs left the game with an injury. When you have a rookie quarterback, you need to run the ball, and the Raiders have yet to be able to do that consistently.
The one upside was the Raiders' defense; they held the Vikings' 231 total yards. Minnesota only had 99 yards passing but did rush for 132 yards. Maxx Crosby led the Raiders with ten tackles and two sacks, and Robert Spillane added ten tackles and a sack.
Over the past couple of weeks, the Raiders' defense has played well, and when you give only three points, you should win, but not when you have the Raiders' offense. You see a first-time head coach, offensive coordinator, and rookie quarterback all struggling. Raiders' interim head coach Antonio Pierce has the respect of the locker room, and the players love him, but results matter. He has four games to try to win the job. He may have won all four to pull it off, but he must figure out something for this pathetic offense.
You can't come off the bye week and look this bad, and Pierce understands this; he is very realistic, but things must change.
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