Tag: Gardner Minshew

Injury update: Gardner Minshew replaces Aidan O’Connell who leaves with injury

And injury to Aidan O’Connell had him leave the Raiders Week seven game against the Rams, ushering in Gardner Minshew at QB.

In the first quarter of the Raiders vs Rams game, Aidan O’Connell left the game with an injury and headed for the locker room. When the Raiders offense returned to the field, Gardner Minshew was in at quarterback.

Minshew had been the starter for the first five games of this season. O’Connell had replaced Minshew as the Raiders starter in Week six against the Steelers.

O’Connell injured his thumb on a pass in which he was flagged for intentional grounding. He was soon ruled Questionable to return. Antonio Pierce told the broadcast in his sideline interview that he doesn’t think O’Connell will be back today.

Minshew came in and led the Raiders on a scoring drive with Daniel Carlson connecting on a 38-yard field goal to put the Raiders up 3-0.

Update: Preliminary tests suggest O’Connell has a broken thumb, which could mean surgery and would threaten to end his season.

Raiders meltdowns are now piling up and they’re getting worse

From the Collapse vs Carolina to the Debacle in Denver to that masterstroke of a meltdown vs the Steelers. The Raiders are spiraling out of control.

Each week it seems the Raiders have a ‘hold my beer’ game to outdo their last one. As if they are talking to their past selves and saying ‘that’s nothin! Watch this!’ and setting a new bar for flailing and implosion.

Let’s start with Week three against the Panthers.

The Raiders were coming off a miraculous fourth quarter comeback win in Baltimore and in turn were feeling pretty good about themselves as they prepped for their home opener.

The Raiders managed to score on their opening drive and it was tied up 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. From that point on, Andy Dalton and the Panthers boat raced them. The Raiders run game went nowhere, averaging 2.9 yards per carry while the defense was gouged by big plays time and time again. It was 33-7 before the Raiders offense even converted another third down!

After the game came the infamous remarks from Antonio Pierce accusing more than one of his players of making ‘business decisions’ in the game.

The following week Davante Adams was out with a sudden hamstring injury, Maxx Crosby missed his first career game, and Jack Jones was benched for the first half. The Raiders somehow held on for the win merely by virtue of Deshaun Watson being utterly terrible.

And the next day Adams requested a trade and hasn’t played since.

Week five was a trip to Denver against a Broncos team that on paper seemed to be a fairly similar team — good defense but a struggling defense.

The Raiders scored a touchdown on their opening drive and jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. They were well on their way to scoring a third time to take what would have been a 17-3 lead. But Gardner Minshew overshot Brock Bowers at point blank range and Patrick Surtain Jr picked it off and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.

Despite consecutive three-and-out by the Raider, it was still tied at 10-10 with two minutes left in the first half and the Raiders got the ball back with just under two minutes with a chance to right the ship and take the lead back. Their attempt consisted of two penalties, three runs, and a punt. So, the Broncos got the ball back and scored instead.

In the third quarter, Minshew threw another interception, was benched for Aidan O’Connell who then also threw an interception. Meanwhile the Broncos rattled off 34 straight points, putting the game away with more than eight minutes left in the game.

That brings us to last Sunday which took the meltdown to new levels.

O’Connell got the start and led the Raiders on a touchdown drive to start things off. That was the scripted drive. And that was where the success ended, soon devolving in a tragicomedy.

The next two drives ended in three-and-outs. Then on the fourth play of the next drive, rookie running back Dylan Laube got his first career carry. Before he even got to the line of scrimmage, the ball was punched out and recovered at the Vegas 30-yard line.

On the second play of the Steelers possession, the Raiders took it back…for an instant. Divine Deablo intercepted a Justin Fields pass over the middle and the Raiders got the ball right back. But wait, a flag. It was roughing the passer on Matthew Butler, who landed on Fields and then stayed in his face while on the turf. The interception was wiped away and the Steelers kept the ball, moving 12 yards closer. A few plays later they were in the end zone.

To begin the third quarter, they had an 18-yard Brock Bowers catch called back by an Andre James holding penalty. That led to a punt. And the punt was blocked, with the Steelers getting the ball at the Vegas nine-yard line and they added a field goal to take a 15-7 lead.

The next Steelers drive looked to end with a punt, but K’Lavon Chaisson was flagged for roughing the passer. Two plays later, Najee Harris got the left edge and went 36 yards for the touchdown.

Now down 22-7, the Raiders needed to put something together to have a chance. They drove to first and goal at the eight. Alexander Mattison took a short pass and scored the touchdown. But, wait, there was a flag. Jackson Powers-Johnson was illegally downfield.

The next play, Ameer Abdullah ran for the end zone, diving toward the goal line and appeared as if he may have gotten in. He was ruled down at the one and on the next play, he fumbled the ball away.

Next Raiders possession started with O’Connell getting sacked, then on third and 19 from his own four-yard-line, he was intercepted. Justin Fields took the naked boot for a touchdown in one play and that put the game on ice.

This game had it all! Fumbles, penalties nullifying takeaways, penalties keeping drives alive, penalties nullifying scores, fumbles at the goal line, interceptions at your own goal line, and so much more!

It was so bad it made the Collapse vs Carolina and the Debacle in Denver look like child’s play.

This team is a shell of the inspired team that finished last season strong. They are just plain lost. They can cobble things together for a few minutes early in games, but it falls apart quickly and at the first crack in the wall, the whole house comes down. This is three times now we’ve seen it happen in just six games and it is just getting worse with each occurrence.

How do the Raiders possibly outdo themselves now? Tune in next week when they visit the LA Rams.

The Raiders benching Gardner Minshew for Aidan O’Connell signals a major QB change in 2025

A new quarterback seems likely for the Raiders in 2025.

The 2-3 Las Vegas Raiders are officially making a quarterback change, as the team will roll with Aidan O’Connell this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers as opposed to Gardner Minshew.

After a dispiriting 34-18 division loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Vegas must’ve felt it necessary to give O’Connell another chance at the job after Minshew struggled.

O’Connell played in 11 games for the Raiders last season, throwing for 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in that span. He’s played in two games so far this season with 176 yards, a touchdown and a pick to show for it.

While O’Connell could play well enough to keep the Raiders’ quarterback job for the rest of the 2024 season, Las Vegas feels destined to find a quarterback of the future in 2025.

Turning on the quarterback carousel in October usually doesn’t mean either guy will have the job next season unless the swap-out option is a rookie, like we’re seeing with the New England Patriots and Drake Maye right now.

Whether this means the Raiders will take a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft (Shedeur Sanders?) or go after a veteran free agent like resurgent Minnesota Vikings starter Sam Darnold is unknown. However, a new starting quarterback feels like all but certain for Las Vegas next year.

It’s a near lock at this point unless O’Connell pulls a Kirk Cousins and lives into his full potential as a mid-round draft success.

This quarterback situation may well mean this Raiders team has a pretty firm floor and ceiling in 2024, negatively compounded by the likely trade of wide receiver Davante Adams. That’s a bummer for fans.

Las Vegas might not make it to the playoffs this year, but brighter days could be ahead for the Raiders if they can figure out who the quarterback of the future is and continue to build out the roster.

That’s obviously a tall order and carries no guarantees, but it at least feels like Raiders fans will get the chance to see that plan go through sooner than later. This is a team to absolutely watch for in the 2025 quarterback conversation.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1371]

Breaking: Raiders make change at QB, naming Aidan O’Connell starter

Breaking: Raiders make change at QB, naming Aidan O’Connell starter

So much for a midseason competition. Prior to Wednesday’s practice, Antonio Pierce took to the podium and formally announced that Aidan O’Connell will be the team’s starting QB, replacing Gardner Minshew.

“When it’s time to make a switch, I make a switch,” Pierce said.

“I just felt like it was best for our offense going forward.”

Minshew was named the starter a couple weeks prior to the start of the season after beating out O’Connell in camp and preseason. But it was never an easy decision. Certainly not as easy as Antonio Pierce had hoped it would be.

Both quarterbacks had issues throughout the offseason practices and camp, so neither truly grabbed ahold of the starting job to make it an obvious choice. Thus Minshew’s leash was always short.

Pierce said he would give it the first quarter of the season and that’s basically how it went down. Five games in, Minshew threw two devastating interceptions in last Sunday’s game against the Broncos, leading to another blowout loss and that was the final straw.

Now Aidan O’Connell will get his shot at it.

Patrick Surtain has Raiders QB’s to thank for his AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award

Raiders quarterbacks all but gift wrapped the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award to Patrick Surtain Jr.

The Players of the Week are out. And as you might expect, Patrick Surtain Jr took home the Defensive Player of the Week Award for the AFC.

Surtain earned his award for sure. But he had a lot of help from Raiders QBs Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.

After the Raiders had scored on their first two drives against the Broncos on Sunday, they were in first and goal at the five-yard-line, looking to go up 17-3. Then Minshew rolled out left with an open Brock Bowers at points blank range and…threw it over his head.

Right there on the other side, guarding Jakobi Meyers in the end zone was the lucky recipient of that horrible pass — Pat Surtain. The opportunistic Surtain intercepted it at the goal line and had nothing but open field in front of him to go 100 yards the other way. Well, technically, Minshew was there, but he was blocked out of the way easily so Surtain didn’t have to worry about him.

Minshew was benehed in the third quarter after throwing his second interception. That brought in Aidan O’Connell and on his third pass of the game, he threw a ball over the middle for Brock Bowers who wasn’t ready for and who else was nearby ready for to catch it off the deflection but Surtain.

Surtain had a pretty good shot at the AFC Defensive Player of the Week award after the 100-yard pick six, but getting his second of the day made him a lock for it.

Surtain earned his flowers, no doubt, but maybe a thank you card to the Raiders would be nice for their generosity. Just a thought.

Report: Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell to compete for Raiders QB job entering Week 6

Entering week six of the season and the Raiders QB competition is right back to where it was in training camp.

Five games into the 2024 season and the Raiders are back where they were going into training camp — with a competition at quarterback. In lieu of naming a starter heading into the week of practices, the Raiders will hold an open competition between O’Connell and Minshew according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic.

Midway through the third quarter of Sunday’s game in Denver, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce pulled Gardner Minshew and replaced him with Aidan O’Connell.

Minshew started the game out well, leading the Raiders to two scores, but two interceptions — one of which was a pick six — led to Pierce pulling the plug and putting in O’Connell.

The second-year former starter didn’t do much upon entering the game that would suggest he was the better option. He too threw an interception and only scored after the game was well out of reach and the Broncos defense was just playing out the clock.

Minshew hasn’t done much to cement himself as the starter, though the offense as a whole has struggled in many areas, namely with the zone blocking scheme and the running game has struggled as a result.

Up until recently, some of the issues were seen as a result of the team not picking a starter earlier, therefore causing a delay in team chemistry. This renewed competition would only figure to take the team back to square one in that department, but for a team desperately seeking answers, they don’t have a lot to lose.

The Raiders face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Las Vegas this Sunday.

Busters for Raiders Week 5 loss to Broncos

Which Raiders players shoulder the greatest share of the blame in the loss to the Broncos

A collapse like this has many searching for answers. Hopefully the Busters list can provide some. At least in terms of how I saw it go down.

Busters

QB Gardner Minshew

As my mom used to say, “one ‘Oh, sh*t!’ can ruin a hundred ‘Attaboys’.”

Minshew started this game with a few attaboys. But none of it mattered when the ‘Oh, sh*t’ happened.

He had the Raiders offense rolling. Looking for a score on three straight drives to begin the game. A nine-yard completion to Brock Bowers and the Raiders were in first and goal at the nine-yard-line. Minshew rolled left and had Bowers wide open at the goal line. For whatever reason, he overshot him and Patrick Surtain intercepted it and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown the other way. Complete momentum stealer.

Instead of 17-3 it was tied 10-10. The Raiders offense seemed to close up shop after that. On three possessions the remainder of the second quarter, Minshew had one completion for one yard. And he even overthrew Bowers again.

The third quarter saw Minshew pinball around the pocket twice for sacks and then throw behind Tre Tucker for another interception. That was his last play of the game as he was pulled for Aidan O’Connell.

HC Antonio Pierce

Speaking of pulling Minshew… Pierce is far too reactionary. Sure, you want to protect the ball, but there just isn’t enough of a leash for Minshew to allow him to make mistakes or be aggressive. Twice in five games he’s been yanked and Pierce wouldn’t commit to him as the starter after the game.

This game was still in reach when Minshew was pulled. It was just 20-10. Minshew came back against the Ravens in Week two. Seemingly in part because Maxx Crosby came out and showed him a little faith and gave him a pep talk. Meanwhile, even when the problem has clearly been the scheme and the running attack, Pierce always seems to go back to placing the blame on not taking care of the ball.

Pierce talks about not riding the wave of emotion after games, but no one is more emotional during and after these games than him. He’s too high after wins and too low after losses, talking about ‘business decisions’ and benching players and having his star receiver requesting a trade.

As far as game management, he continues to make the wrong decisions on fourth downs. In this game, the offense ran it on third and five from the Denver 45 — which you only really do if your plan is to go for it — got three yards on it, setting up fourth and short and then oddly punted it away. That’s simply the wrong decision however you look at it. And he makes a poor fourth down decision seemingly every week.

Oh, and TWICE the Raiders defense was flagged for 12 men on the field. Just inexcusable.

LB Tommy Eichenberg

The rookie was making his first start. And it kinda looked like it. He had just one assist in the game. And should have had a lot more than that. His one assist came on an eight yard run on fourth and one. So, even that tackle wasn’t notable.

The score was still just 13-10 in the third quarter. Eichenberg gave up a 13-yard run on the second play. But thanks to a Denver holding penalty and a Crosby sack, they got out of it. They weren’t so fortunate on the next drive.

It started with Eichenberg getting blocked so hard on the punt return, he took out another coverage guy, allowing a huge return that may have been a touchdown had John Samuel Shenker not made the shoestring tackle to stop it at midfield. It didn’t end up mattering much though, because a few plays in, Eichenberg missed the tackle on a nine-yard run and later gave up the touchdown on a catch out right from four yards out.

The next touchdown drive began with Eichenberg missing another tackle in an 11-yard scramble. Later he gave up a 19-yard catch that put the Broncos in first and goal. He was flagged for holding on the Broncos’ final touchdown, which means had they not scored on the play, they would have been in first and goal at the four-yard-line anyway.

CB Jack Jones

Jones’s day got off to a good start. He made the pass breakup on third down to force a punt on the Broncos’ first drive. Not much went right for him after that.

He was flagged for illegal contact on the Broncos’ first scoring drive. On their next scoring drive, he gave up a 19-yard catch on third and seven that put them in field goal range in the final seconds. He had a missed tackle on a 27-yard catch and run on their third scoring drive  And he gave up the final touchdown from nine yards out.

G Jackson Powers-Johnson

Far too often during a play, JPJ ends up flat on his face. It’s odd, really. He gets up slowly as if he was either injured on the play or is fighting through an injury. But that’s not it. I just think he gets dejected when he can’t hold his block or is tossed to the ground.

The second play of the game, he was beaten to give up a tackle for loss on a run. The second play of the next drive, he was put on his face to allow a run stuff for no gain. Then on the second play following the game-tying pick six, he gave up another run stuff at the line, helping lead to a three-and-out.

A couple possessions later, he was flagged for a false start, helping lead to another three-and-out.

Gotta figure out these NFL DT’s, young fella. And maybe, pop back up after being beaten and get back at it because, if nothing else, staying on the ground like that after the play isn’t a good look.

WR Jakobi Meyers

Nothing was working for the Raiders offense after that pick six. But Meyers might have helped spark things. Instead he had a one-yard catch, a drop on third down, and then an offensive pass interference leading to two three-and-outs.

His stats were a bit misleading considering half his catches (3) and most of his yards (43) came after the game was out of reach.

DE Tyree Wilson

Last week, Wilson got the seemingly random PFF pat on the back; apparently for having a couple QB hits, even though he didn’t really impact the game in any meaningful way. This week, despite 34 snaps — which was second only to Maxx Crosby among DE’s — he was completely invisible. His stat line consisted of one assist.

See the Ballers

Gardner Minshew roasted by Twitter for embarrassing sideline moment vs. Broncos

“That’s his third pick today!” 😭😭😭

Whelp, this is embarrassing.

After throwing two interceptions against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, quarterback Gardner Minshew was benched by the Las Vegas Raiders in favor of Aidan O’Connell.

While watching from the sidelines in the fourth quarter, Minshew was caught by Fox cameras in an awkward moment. Fans were quick to react on social media.

Raiders took Two L’s Today
byu/AsianZingButtSauce inDenverBroncos

Raiders: Pride & Poise
byu/wrongfulhysteria547 inDenverBroncos

Gardner was eating his boogs
byu/Throbbingprepuce inDenverBroncos

um. ew.
byu/letmeusespaces inDenverBroncos

Minshew with another Pick 6
byu/Pocket_full_of_funk inDenverBroncos

Oh no. On no no no no no.

“That’s his third pick today!” Amigo_Avocado wrote on reddit.

Here’s one positive spin from Radphant0ms on reddit: “Probably picking mustache hair out of his mouth. As a bearded individual, it’s a real struggle.” We’ll hope that was the case.

Minshew finished the game 12-of-17 passing for 137 yards with one touchdown pass and two (three?) picks. The Broncos won 34-18.

[vertical-gallery id=620142]

Raiders QB job in limbo again following latest ugly loss

Another ugly loss for the Raiders means more questions about who will start at quarterback.

Another bad loss for the Raiders means another week of wondering whether Antonio Pierce will bench Gardner Minshew in favor of Aidan O’Connell.

This time it was the Broncos. A bitter rival who had never beaten the Raiders since they made the move to Las Vegas — a streak of eight straight.

The game started out feeling like the Raiders were going to boat race the Broncos. Vegas scored a touchdown on the opening drive, with Brock Bowers making a great play on a floated ball from Minshew and turning it into a 57-yard touchdown. The second drive went for a field goal. And the third one was looking like it was headed for a touchdown.

Then everything fell apart.

Minshew rolled left and threw too high for Bowers at the goal line and it was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

Thae Raiders would not score again in the game. Meanwhile the Broncos rattled off 34 straight points.

Minshew completed eight passes for 115 yards and a touchdown prior to the pick six. The rest of the game he completed four passes for 22 yards and two interceptions.

After his second interception, the Raiders pulled him in favor of Aidan O’Connell.

The score was still just 20-10 in the third quarter when Minshew was pulled, so it wasn’t quite like two weeks ago in the blowout to the Panthers when O’Connell came in. This time it was merely poor performance and the Raiders hoped maybe O’Connell could give them a shot. He didn’t.

His first pass went to no man’s land and was he missed completed one pass for four yards and threw two other passes to no one.

He was intercepted again on his third drive, this time on the first play, giving the Broncos great field position at the Vegas 39. They scored another touchdown off f it to go up 34-10.

The game was officially out of hand at that point, so that’s when O’Connell led the team on a pointless scoring drive.

Even with the garbage time stats to pretty things up, O’Connell still had just 94 yards on 50% completions with no TD’s and an interception. So, not exactly presenting himself as a better option than Minshew.

After the game, Antonio Pierces answer to who will be starting going forward was simply to shake his head and say “I don’t know” and adding that he has to watch the film.

Pierce has shown a short leash in his short time as the Raiders head coach. He stuck with O’Connell last season mainly because he was just brought in to play out the string and the Raiders wanted to see what they had in the rookie. He played well enough, combined with the high energy defense to get some unexpected wins. That’s not there this season and thus far neither of the QB’s has shown they can pick the team up.

The smart thing now would be to let the team know in the next couple of days whether Minshew is being yanked or if he’ll be given another shot next week, so they can rally around whoever is the starter. That is their best shot at finding some success. Though at this point, it’s hard to say if it will really matter.

Busters for Raiders Week 4 win over Browns

Busters for Raiders Week 4 win over Browns

We know the heroes for this come-from-behind win over the Browns. But it wasn’t all good in the hood. The Browns were able to stay within striking distance for a reason.

Busters

T Kolton Miller

Myles Garrett has a way of making opponents look silly. But this isn’t about judging the quality of the opponent. And there’s no softening things because of it.

Things started to go badly for Miller on the final drive of the second quarter. The Raiders got the ball with 1:20 left to the half. A 17-yard run on first down had them thinking they might be able to get a score before heading into the locker room. But that hope ended on the next play when Miller gave up the sack. So, they opted to just head for the locker room with a 10-10 tie instead.

The Raiders got the ball first in the second half and on their first third down, Miller gave up a big hit on Gardner Minshew that would have ended the drive if not for Garrett being flagged for roughing the passer. Still not good to get your own QB blown up like that.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Raiders were clinging to a four-point lead after a fumble return for a touchdown by the Browns. They had moved to midfield on their drive when on third and two, Miller gave up another sack to end the threat.

With 4:55 left in the game, the Raiders were hoping to keep possession long enough to drain the clock out. But on the very first play, Miller was late getting to his assignment, causing a tackle for a loss of five yards. It led to a three-and-out and just over a minute and a half off the clock, giving the Browns plenty of time to drive for the winning score, which they very nearly did.

RB Zamir White

While the rest of the offense came out of their running futility funk, White did not. He had a season-high 17 carries and the result was a season worst performance, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry with the team’s only turnover on a fumble that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown.

The team turned to Alexander Mattison after White’s fumble, but when they gave him the ball again, he was promptly stopped in the backfield for a loss of five yards.

In the second half, with the Raiders needing to score and then keep the ball away from the Browns’ offense, White had six carries for a combined four yards and a fumble, giving them their only points in the second half. During that same time frame Mattison had four carries for 36 yards. A change at feature back is forthcoming.

QB Gardner Minshew

14 of 24 for 130 yards and no TD’s with two rushes for negative two yards and two sacks. Yeah, the Raiders got the win, but it wasn’t on the arm or the legs of Minshew.

The first drive was dead in the water, but might have come out of it had Minshew been able to connect with DJ Turner who had gotten behind the defense on what would have been a huge gain. Perhaps even a touchdown. But Minshew overthrew him. Turner is very fast, so that’s not easy to do. The result was the Raiders were down 10-0 before Minshew had completed a pass.

To his credit, he did complete a few passes to help the Raiders tie the game up in the second quarter. But another drive would end with a bad throw to an open receiver. This time is was underthrown into the turf and Daniel Carlson had to connect on a 52-yard field goal as a result.

The first drive of the third quarter only got into scoring range due to a roughing the passer penalty. And it ended two plays later with Minshew overthrowing Jakobi Meyers. The touchdown drive on the next possession featured one completed pass and two overthrows. The final 35 yards came on the ground.

The fourth quarter saw Minshew convert zero third downs with just one first down total through the air.

LB Luke Masterson

The only touchdown drive for the Browns was their first drive of the game. And it had Masterson mistakes all over it. First play he was out of position on a six yard run. A few plays later he would miss a tackle on a five-yard run. They had driven to the 12-yard-line and Masterson gave up a seven-yard catch. Two plays later, he gave up the first down run to put them in first and goal at the one. Two plays after that, he bit hard on the play action to allow a wide open touchdown to the tight end.

The next defensive series hadn’t even started yet and Masterson was already hurting them. He was flagged for being illegally downfield on the punt.

Late in the second quarter, the Browns were driving to try and re-take the lead. And they nearly did it thanks to Masterson giving up two catches for 36 yards.

I counted at least three missed tackles by Masterson, which means he had nearly as many missed tackles as he he solo tackles (4).

T DJ Glaze

Nothing went right on the Raiders first possession of the game. But the worst part was Glaze being flagged for holding on the second play which backed them up to their own eight yard line.

Glaze gave up a hit on Minshew in the third quarter. Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, he was beaten off the snap to get Zamir White smacked in the backfield and White fumbled it away. It was returned for a touchdown to make it a four-point game.

See the Ballers