Down 10 points in the second half, the Las Vegas Raiders made a change at quarterback.
Starter Gardner Minshew was replaced by Aidan O'Connell just prior to the end of the third quarter with the Raiders trailing on their way to a 34-18 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Head coach Antonio Pierce did not name a starter for Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t have answer to that one yet.”
Minshew, who had thrown for 137 yards and a touchdown in the game, tossed his second interception of the afternoon before he was yanked.
O’Connell didn’t fair any better, finishing his quarter-plus of action going 10-of-20 passing for 94 yards, no TDs and an interception. He captained one scoring drive, which came in garbage time and stopped a 34-point Broncos run.
Hooking up with Brock Bowers on a 57-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, Minshew propelled Las Vegas to a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter.
However, the Raiders’ offense was held scoreless thereafter with a second-quarter Minshew toss into the end zone picked off by Patrick Surtain II and taken 100 yards the other way to lead to a tie ballgame.
“Looked like it was a high throw, just from my angle,” Pierce said of the pick-six.
After another interception, this one on a deep pass intended for wideout Tre Tucker and grabbed by Broncos cornerback Riley Moss, Minshew was benched in favor of O’Connell.
Minshew, a free-agent signee, won the QB competition over O’Connell in training camp. However, after a stunning Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, there were rumblings that he could be replaced. Pierce stuck with him, though.
Through four-plus games, Minshew has completed 99 of 140 passes for 1,014 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Whether O’Connell keeps hold of the starting reins remains to be seen.
As of Sunday, though, the Raiders’ starting quarterback at the beginning of the season was benched, the team’s Week 1 starting running back Zamir White was inactive and injured and the team’s top wideout, Davante Adams, was inactive, dealing with a hamstring injury and has requested a trade.
There’s some disarray in Las Vegas.
Said Pierce when asked if there were any positive to take from Sunday: “I don’t think there’s any positives when you lose.”
