Raiders bosses Gardner Minshew and Brock Bowers face a big challenge

Antonio Pierce left no doubt about what he expects from his Las Vegas Raiders in their divisional showdown with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday.

“We have to limit sales, right? It has to be zero, it just has to be that way,” the head coach said during his midweek press conference on Wednesday.

That’s not coaching speak – it’s the cold hard truth for the Silver & Black. After a terrible performance that included four turnovers by quarterback Gardner Minshew in the team's 20-15 loss in Week 7 to the Los Angeles Rams, the lack of more turnovers is a poignant message in the Raiders' locker room. Minshew threw three interceptions and a fumble, and all 20 of the Rams' points came from gaffes. No wonder Minshew topped Matt Holder's Week 7 winners and losers list.

In total, there are a whopping 16 giveaways in Las Vegas compared to a very meager three takeaways in the season. And with a faltering offense — which causes the defense to miss the field significantly and the unit's own effectiveness to wane over the duration of a 60-minute soccer game — turnovers play a big role in the team's 2-5 record. Newcomer Kansas City is 6-0, and while the team has 10 road games to its name, it also has seven road games to its name – three of which came in the team's 28-18 victory over the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday.

Being smart with the football and executing offense is paramount for Minshew and the Raiders. Equally important is keeping notable rookie tight end Brock Bowers productive and a focal point of the Silver & Black's offense. But Minshew and Bowers face an uphill battle against the Chiefs. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is a creative playmaker who orchestrates a dominant defense and ranks fifth in the league in points allowed (103) and tenth in yards scored (1,837). The duo of defensive tackle Chris Jones and defensive end George Karlaftis III gives Spagnuolo an effective inside-out pass rush duo that can derail any offense's best laid plans. And that could spell doom for Minshew, who makes some of his worst mistakes when under pressure (even in a clean pocket, he makes mistakes).

Minshew being off schedule and trying to avoid the heat can play right into the hands of the disciplined linebacker crew, and the Chiefs boast in the secondary as 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw three interceptions last weekend.

The Raiders have no choice but to meet this challenge head-on and be as creative and dominant in the trenches as the Chiefs intend to be. That means left tackle Kolton Miller and rookie right tackle DJ Glaze keep the edge rushers in check and rookie left guard Jackson Johnson-Powers, right guard Jordan Meredith and center Andre James keep the interior clean. However, the duel between the mighty Johnson-Powers and Jones is fascinating because it is a fight between two brutes.

“We won’t leave him on an island, I’ll tell you that. It will be Jackson and the group, Jackson and five other guys,” Pierce noted. “But no, we can’t give Chris Jones a rookie offensive lineman, that’s not going to happen. Didn't do it last year and don't plan on doing it this year, because he's obviously going up against a top-notch, probably future Hall of Famer defensive tackle, and doing that to a rookie is a non-issue for us. But I'm still excited to see it because he's going to fight. There’s going to be a snail festival in there.”

Giving Minshew enough time to act will help the entire Raiders offense, but especially Bowers. The Chiefs' defense stifled the 49ers' passing attack last week, but tight end George Kittle came away with six catches for 92 yards (on seven targets) and a long of 41. Las Vegas has the potential to deliver that kind of performance (maybe even more) to Bower's route running combined with Getsy tracking him down. The Raiders' rookie completed 10 passes for 93 yards (on 14 targets) with a length of 25 last week.

Spagnuolo will do everything possible to limit Bowers, and that starts with disrupting or dropping Minshew. But given time, Bowers has the ability to make any defender look stupid in coverage. It's no wonder the Georgia product is becoming a rookie watch sensation every week.

Incorporating other pass catchers will benefit the offense as a whole – as will a functional ground game. In last week's loss, no other option caught more than three passes (wide receiver Tre Tucker, three for 36 yards; running back Alexander Mattison, three for 31 yards).

“We need to get out of the DBs and find a way to open up. We have to protect. “Everything plays a role, not just the quarterback, not just the OC and the head coach,” Pierce noted earlier this week. “All 11, everyone involved in the game plan has to do their part throughout. And then you have to execute it. I mean, there were ways to get Tre Tucker to move the ball down the field, but that didn't happen, did it? So, just keep coming back to it, man. Keep going, keep calling, keep going, and hopefully we can get the ball flowing and get it down the field. I think what will really help Brock and our offense is getting the game going and staying consistent for four quarters.”

Coaching and execution work hand in hand – that hasn't always happened with the two-win Raiders.

But on any given Sunday. Against a division opponent that has dominated the AFC West, a determined effort from Las Vegas isn't a far-fetched idea. But it will take a concerted effort from coaching to player execution, especially for an offense facing a Kansas City defense that has talent and consistent coaching.

Still, Pierce's Raiders are the last team to hand Andy Reid's Chiefs a loss – until Christmas Day 2023.

Pierce readily admits that the team is not the one we see today. This Raiders squad crushed the Chiefs with a thunderous attack that overwhelmed Kansas City. It was the wake-up call Reid said his team needed en route to another Super Bowl title.

Maybe Pierce and Co. can cause another rude awakening?

“We are tired of losing the last three weeks. We'll start there, right? We need to get that taste out of our mouth,” Pierce said. “We had the chance to win those games but we let them slip away for one reason or another. And now we have a division opponent that we know very well. That's all we did is study. Our teams have talked about it. We are on fire. We are thrilled.”