Perfection wasn't expected of Antonio Pierce’s Las Vegas Raiders in their 2024 season opener against the Chargers.
Nevertheless, there are a few plays they wish they could've got back in the 22-10 defeat.
The Silver and Black generated nearly 300 yards of total offense, with Gardner Minshew II completing passes to eight different players. They also held the lead for a good portion of the contest, relying on stout defensive play that didn't allow the Chargers to score a touchdown until the final period.
The crucial miscues for the Raiders came on third downs and in the turnover margin. The offense was 5-of-14 on third-down conversions plus had two turnovers from Minshew and a fumble from Zamir White.
"The run game was poor. The passing game was off," Head Coach Pierce said following the loss. "Turnovers, you can't do it. You can't have three turnovers on the road and expect to win."
Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers were expected to rely on the running game, which the defense limited well in the first half. However, a few explosive runs from J.K. Dobbins changed everything in the second half. It didn't help that for the Raiders offense, White and Alexander Mattison were held to less than four yards per carry throughout the contest.
"It's something we harped on, we talked about for literally two weeks," Piece said of the team's rushing attack. "I thought for the most part of the preseason, we did a decent job of that. But you look at it, we had two explosive runs, got to hold them. Got another explosive run, we fumble the ball.
"It seemed like right when we got to midfield, there was like this - like something that was going on. It would just either push us back or we couldn't figure it out. ... We've got to obviously look at it. It's not good enough, because there was plenty of opportunities for us to put points on the board."
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