Power rankings roundup: Raiders ‘business decisions’ lead to significant drop

Embarrassing loss leads to an embarrassing standing around the league

There’s no sugarcoating it, the Las Vegas Raiders got embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers in Week 3. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said after the game that players made “business decisions, ” leading to Las Vegas falling in NFL power rankings among the media as the team is back down to the bottom quarter of the league by most outlets.

Bleacher Report

26. Las Vegas Raiders (1-2)

Last Week: 21

Week 3 Result: Lost vs. Carolina 36-22

The Las Vegas Raiders have had their fair share of low moments in recent years. After Antonio Pierce rallied the team down the stretch last year, the hope was that things were headed in the right direction.

That’s hard to say with a straight face after the Raiders were waxed in Vegas by a Panthers team that was easily the NFL’s worst through the season’s first two weeks.

This game was nowhere near as close as the final score. The Raiders were outplayed in every facet of the game. The offense struggled to move the ball until the game was out of hand. The defense was gouged through the air and gashed on the ground by the likes of Andy Dalton and Chuba Hubbard.

A couple of late touchdowns by Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell made the scoreboard look better than the game really was, as B/R mentions, especially since the Raiders trailed 33-7 at one point in the fourth quarter. To add context to the analysis above, Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns while Hubbard logged 169 total yards and a receiving score.

The Athletic

24. Las Vegas Raiders (1-2)

Last week: 22

Sunday: Lost to Carolina Panthers 36-22

Surprise: That it took this long for a quarterback controversy

Controversy might be a strong word when the choices are Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, but here the Raiders are. O’Connell replaced Minshew in the fourth quarter Sunday and finished 9-for-12 for 82 yards and a touchdown. That might be enough to earn him a start, although coach Antonio Pierce didn’t sound happy with anybody after the game.

The Athletic continues to be one of the more optimistic outlets when it comes to the Silver and Black. However, the site still has the team in the bottom quarter of the league. While the comment about the quarterback controversy is fair given that O’Connell got playing time last week and Minshew had a poor performance, reports are that Pierce is sticking with Minshew for now. That being said, if he was on a short leash before last week, the choke collar feels like it’s about as tight as can be.

Yahoo!

25. Las Vegas Raiders (1-2)

Last week: 20

The Raiders aren’t going to win anything if they can’t run the ball, and they’ve been horrible at it. They average 2.8 yards per rush, the only team this season under 3 yards per carry. That’ll be hard to fix.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The running game struggling to begin the year might be the most frustrating aspect of the team so far this season. Pierce talked all offseason about how he wants to establish the run but the Raiders have literally the worst rushing attack in the NFL with 51.0 yards per game, over 20 yards lower than any other team.

NFL.com

28. Las Vegas Raiders

Last week: 26

I took some heat for not raising the Raiders much after their Week 2 upset of the Ravens, but I truly felt after watching that game that Baltimore gave it away as much as Las Vegas won it. While my pick of the Panthers to beat the Raiders on Sunday was a bit of a dart throw, Antonio Pierce offered some strong words for his team after the loss that made me think I might have been onto something. The defense is too Maxx Crosby-dependent in general, and when he’s banged up, as he was this week, the poor results can be eye-opening. The offense has been too reliant on the passing game, which feels odd for a team with QB questions, even taking into account the Raiders’ pass-catching talent. Pierce brought Aidan O’Connell into the game late, but he’s keeping Gardner Minshew in the QB1 role for now. If the Raiders can’t win against the Browns or Broncos coming up, this season could slip away pretty fast.

The point about the defense being too reliant on Crosby is valid, especially without Malcolm Koonce in the lineup. This past game was the first time this season that I felt they were really missing Koonce. Crosby wasn’t himself and while Las Vegas did get two sacks, both resulted from Carolina’s miscommunications upfront. Outside of that, the defensive line wasn’t getting much pressure.

ESPN

22. Las Vegas Raiders

Week 3 ranking: 21

Biggest issue on offense: Lack of balance on offense

Sure, the Raiders have found themselves trailing by at least 10 points in the fourth quarter of all three games and needing to throw more, but Las Vegas is already passing twice as much as it’s rushing. The Raiders have run 55 times, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry, and have thrown 111 passes. “If [we] can’t win on early downs, teams are going to just keep teeing off on us,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “We’ll go into the lab and … chip away.” — Paul Gutierrez

Another call out of the Silver and Black’s offense being too reliant on the passing attack. While they do have plenty of weapons on the roster, the team doesn’t have the quarterback to make throwing the ball 40 times a game a sustainable winning formula.