The Raiders have a lot of problems right now and at the top of the list is their quarterback play.
The quarterback situation isn’t something the team can’t do a lot about right now, but the issue of clock management is one that head coach Antonio Pierce needs to figure out soon.
There will always be philosophical differences between head coaches and analysts, but clock management is something that many times isn’t debatable.
Clock management didn’t cost the Raiders the game on Sunday, but the way Pierce handled his three timeouts in the second half could have cost the Raiders the game. As it worked out, the Raiders were so bad on offense that the team never faced the consequences of allowing time to run off the clock for no reason.
Let’s take a look at what happened and determine exactly how many seconds Pierce allowed to run off the clock unnecessarily.
With 2:38 remaining in the game, the Rams had just finished a first-down run by Kyren Williams.The play clock worked out perfectly that the Rams were able to run the game clock down to 2:00 with only 2 seconds remaining on the play clock.
Pierce could have called timeout immediately and stopped the clock at 2:38, but he let the clock run down to 2:00 and held on to all three timeouts.
From there, the Rams ran three plays, and Pierce called a timeout after each play. There were 14 seconds taken off the clock in that process and the Rams punted with 1:46 remaining in the game. The Raider offense took the field with 1:39 remaining in the game.
With no timeouts remaining, every second was crucial on Sunday, and Pierce could have easily given his offense the ball with 14 additional seconds on the clock if he had simply called timeout with 2:38 remaining. The timeout at 2:38 would have left the Raiders with only two timeouts, but the 2-minute warning would have served as a their third timeout and the Rams would have punted with 2:00 on the clock instead of 1:46.
It didn’t end up mattering because the Raider offense was an abomination on Sunday, but if the Raiders are going to be competitive with Pierce, this is an area the head coach needs to improve.
For what it’s worth, Pierce has a game management coach in Matt Sheldon, who has 20 years of NFL experience according to the team’s website.
At some point, it needs to be determined if Pierce is being advised to manage the clock poorly or if that is a decision he is making himself.
x: @raidersbeat
I say its time to send Peirce packing there are a few coaches on his staff with head coaching experience and he can take Getsby with him!!
I really liked pierce when he took over last year, just like the team did because it was a fresh start and he seemed
on the same page as everyone else. fast forward to this year and my doubts started to surface at draft time when he
did not push for a QB.. When Minsue was brought in from Baltimore for 2 years @ $25M, I knew we were in trouble.
After training camp and the undecided starter until game 1, then going back and forth with the QB’s, I really feel like
McDummy is still here somewhere!!!! I look at the free agency market in week 3 and see Tannerhill sitting out there and probably available for about $7M for the year I’m like “experience” there. Now week 7, O’Connell breaks his thumb, minsue is still playing like a washed up back up, and instead of going after Tannerhill they go for another QB that is in the same boat as minsue!!! WTF is wrong with this team! looks like sell off of players is on the door step! might have to keep the team in my heart but elevate my fan to another team.. Go Buffalo!, I live in NY and have always felt a connection to Buffalo because they never get recognition for being a NY team because they are not down state like Giants and Jets “who technically play in NJ!
I somewhat feel the same way ! If they trade Maxx Crosby i was thinking of a New York team myself! I was born in Jamestown,,,grew up on a farm aprx 50 miles out of Buffalo ,,and actually was thinking the Bills or Giants in honor of my dads team who passed away 3 years ago! They need to show AP the door and take Getsy with him,,,couple games back showed he needs fired! 2nd and 20 so run up the middle,,,,3rd and 18 ,,,so lets run up the middle! Part of that whole staff should be shown the door!
This is sort of the concern with AP, right? He’s not a scheme guy, he’s more of an administrative, manager type HC. To be successful that way, you really have to nail the ways you can influence success, namely game management and player relations.
I thought he was getting better as last season went on with the game management stuff, but he’s been bad this year. The player relations aspect is also looking a bit more tenuous now.
I feel like he’s got a lot on the line over the last 10 games. Not in terms of record, because the Raiders are bad and everyone knows it. But whether he can be the guy to lead them into better times.
The different blunders AP has so far this year and there are a few,,,,cant see anything worse than being at the goal line down by 8 points,little over 2 minutes to go, and you kick a field goal! Knowing of course with the stupid way they kick off now the other team will get the ball because there are no more on side kicks!