The Las Vegas Raiders were hoping to have an easy decision to make in terms of the quarterback battle following their second preseason game. Unfortunately, with how badly they both played, the decision to choose a starter for the regular season got harder.
The Raiders, under the leadership of Coach Antonio Pierce, are at a crossroads, with two quarterbacks vying for the starting position: Aidan O'Connell, the young guy with potential, and Gardner Minshew, the experienced veteran with a flair for the dramatic. Which do they go with?
After benching Derek Carr in late 2022, they had seen various quarterbacks take the helm, but none had truly captured the essence of what the Raiders needed. Enter 2024, when the team, with a revamped coaching staff, decided to let the competition play out in the open.
The first preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings was telling. O'Connell started, leading a methodical drive that ended in a field goal, showcasing his ability to manage the game. Minshew, entering in the second quarter, ignited the offense with a quick score, his two-minute drill a masterclass in quarterbacking.
But their second preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys was a much different story. All around, the game was bad. The Raiders, who played their starters, got beat in multiple phases against a team that didn't play their starters.
"It wasn't up to our standard," head coach Antonio Pierce said afterward. "Eight penalties there, but a lot of those came off some explosive opportunities for us. Special teams, the offense you have seen as well, are just uncharacteristic. Hadn't been showing up. We've had officials at practice last week, what, four, five, maybe six penalties. But today it came to the forefront, and that is obviously going to hurt you in games like this. Obviously the red zone as well. 0-3 in the first half and then 1-4 to finish the game."
After Minshew started the game and played pretty poorly, it was said that O'Connell won the battle before stepping onto the field, because Minshew just played that bad. Then O'Connell came in and orchestrated the offense well. He made some good throws and didn't make many errors.
But, as soon as you started thinking about why was O'Connell still in the game in the fourth quarter, he threw a pick-six against the Cowboys' third-stringers. That just made the decision by Antonio Pierce even harder.
"We've seen enough reps," Pierce continued. "Two games, like we talked about. Our guys are not playing the third preseason game, our starters, so we'll sleep on it and make a decision in the next couple of days."
Either way, the starters won't play in the third preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. We should know who the starter will be on Sunday morning.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew is keeping the perfect mindset amidst the QB battle
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