After the Raiders managed to pull off an upset in Baltimore, their fans thought they would make light work of the Panthers in Vegas. Coming into the clash after losing their first two games of the season and benching their starting QB Bryce Young, the Panthers paved the way for a stunning victory in Las Vegas, as the home team was subjected to a 36-22 loss.

With this defeat, the Raiders were supposedly looking to bring a change to their QB position. As 3x All-Pro WR Devante Adams expressed his thoughts on the Up & Adams show about Minshew losing his starting role, “I don’t think anything Gardner has done is streaky play. I think we all play streaky, so it’s not about imperfect out there.” Well, over the three games Minshew has started for the Raiders, he has been sacked 11 times while notching up three TD passes and three interceptions.

But those aren’t really bad numbers, considering the Raiders managed to beat the Ravens, where Minshew scored a touchdown while completing 30-of-38 passes. And the Raiders came away with a 26-23 victory from Baltimore. Even this week, Gardner was okayish, having recorded 18-of-28 passes for 214 yards with one TD and one interception.

However, the Raiders starting QB didn’t finish the game, as Aidan O’Connell replaced him in the fourth quarter. Well, the 26-year-old didn’t disappoint as he managed to throw 9-of-12 passes for 82 yards while adding a TD with no interceptions. When Pierce was asked about the reasons behind this sudden change, he said the decision was taken to “give us[the team] a spark.”

Although the Raiders still lost, Adams didn’t like Pierce’s decision to substitute Minshew, “It’s like having a girlfriend, and you make her feel like every day she could be out the door. I mean, that’s not the feeling that she wants. I don’t think that you are gonna get the best product out of your girl. Hopefully, they will give him more opportunities. Hopefully, we will do better.” As the game ended, Antonio Pierce later decided to call out the players for the loss.

Antonio Pierce questions the Raiders’ mentality after the loss to Panthers

Since overcoming a 10-point lead in Baltimore, the Raiders were looking to build on that win in Las Vegas. But it wasn’t meant to be as the Panthers rushed into a 14-point lead, thereby cruising to a 36-22 victory. This led to Raiders’ head coach Pierce questioning the team’s lack of effort, “As the game went on. I think there was definitely some individuals that made business decisions. And we’ll make business decisions going forward as well.”

Well, Pierce is visibly fuming, as it was their 59th consecutive defeat after trailing by 14 points going into the second half. After Pierce took over the hot seat in Las Vegas, they never allowed more than 21 points over their previous nine games. But since the start of this season, the Raiders have already allowed 21 points in all of their matches.

Expressing his thoughts after the game, Pierce appreciated the fans’ effort but criticized theirs, “It’s poor, it’s just not good enough. The crowd was ready. I appreciate the crowd, everybody showing up; they did their part, we did not.” Well, the Raiders did allow the Panthers to score in 8 of their 11 drives, which is not something they will like to repeat next time out.

But will they be able to improve upon their gaps going into the fourth week of the regular season? Or a change in their QB position is the solution, as the season is only going to get tougher with the playoff race heating up in the AFC West.