‘It’s not showing up on game day’: Raiders know they need to improve in this area

The Raiders were satisfied with their 26-23 comeback victory in Week 2 against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Baltimore.

It also wasn’t lost on them that they need to do something about their running game, which has been nonexistent the first two games of the season.

The Raiders (1-1) ran for just 27 yards against the Ravens (0-2) on 17 carries. They survived thanks to a great defensive effort and a strong second-half performance from quarterback Gardner Minshew and the passing game.

The team knows that isn’t sustainable. The Raiders need to improve their rushing output, which stands at 98 yards on 39 carries through two games.

Coach Antonio Pierce, who wants a punishing ground game to be part of his club’s identity, clearly isn’t happy.

“That’s poor. That’s piss-poor,” Pierce said Monday. “And it’s not good enough. And our players are going to hear about it here in a second.”

Pierce accepted responsibility for the run game’s lack of production. He laid some culpability at the feet of new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and new offensive line coach James Cregg as well. But he didn’t let his players off the hook, either.

Pierce didn’t place any blame on running back Zamir White, a first-year starter that spent the previous two seasons behind running back Josh Jacobs on the depth chart.

Pierce directed his frustration at the offensive line instead.

“The big boys up front got to block. Bottom line,” he said. “They know it. We’re gonna talk about that in a few minutes.”

Pierce has said he wants the Raiders to be a run-first team. But that requires the offensive line to do its job and be physical at the point of attack.

That has not happened the first two weeks of the season. The Raiders’ 49 rushing yards per game rank last in the NFL, well behind the 31st-place Rams (68).

It doesn’t help that left tackle Kolton Miller missed almost all of training camp rehabbing from an offseason shoulder surgery and has struggled the first two games.

Or that second-round pick Jackson Powers-Johnson, who was expected to start at left guard as a rookie, was out much of camp with an undisclosed injury and was inactive the first two games with an illness.

The offensive’s line lack of cohesiveness has been evident early on. In addition to the running game’s struggles, Minshew has been sacked nine times in two games.

“There has to be an intent and a play style that we talked about that we practice and that we’ve been preaching from Day 1,” Pierce said. “It’s not showing up on game day.”

The Raiders tinkered with the left side of their offensive line against the Ravens by replacing left guard Cody Whitehair with Andrus Peat. Whitehair got back in the lineup later in the game, but neither he nor Peat played well.

Pierce said “everything’s on the table,” whether it be personnel changes or scheme adjustments, to get the issues up front fixed.

Panthers’ change surprises Pierce

The Raiders will face a different quarterback than they were expecting Sunday in their home opener at Allegiant Stadium. The Panthers (0-2) announced Monday that quarterback Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, was being benched in favor of veteran Andy Dalton.

The news came out just before Pierce’s news conference Monday and caught him by surprise. He and his staff will now have to switch gears in terms of their defensive approach.

“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board on that one,” Pierce said. “I wasn’t prepared for that.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.