Graney: Quarterback switch means nothing in sea of yellow

PITTSBURGH WEST

It was over, and Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin glanced toward the crowd, at the thousands of yellow towels being waved. He acknowledged the support, smiled at the scene.

Steelers 32, Raiders 13.

Wasn’t that close.

It’s bad enough to lose at home and look this inept. But the Raiders did so Sunday in an Allegiant Stadium dominated by fans from the visiting team.

Talk about pouring salt into the proverbial wound of a 2-4 side going nowhere.

One banner read: You’re in Steelers Country.

I know Pittsburgh fans travel well, but this was all sorts of sad.

The Raiders on this day also changed quarterbacks. Aidan O’Connell received his first start of the season in place of Gardner Minshew, and the switch hardly made an inch of difference.

Different name, different number, same result.

Too conservative

O’Connell, save an opening drive that traveled 70 yards and concluded with a touchdown for a 7-3 lead, wasn’t very good at all. He would complete 27 of 40 passes for 227 yards with a touchdown and interception. Would miss open receivers. Would overthrow his intended target on the pick deep in his own territory.

The Raiders are beat up. They were missing, among others, their top two wide receivers in Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers. But you can’t allow that to make you so ultraconservative in your play-calling. You have to take more chances. You at least need to try to earn more chunk plays. It’s the NFL.

“Yeah, there were some shots down the field,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “Obviously, we didn’t take them. … When you get shots down the field, a lot of things play into it. You want to get the look, and sometimes you’ve just got to let it rip.”

O’Connell didn’t let it rip enough.

He’s the guy you want to root for. He has been the ultimate underdog, through high school and into college and now in a second NFL season. But none of it has made him into a good starting quarterback in the pros.

We know what the Raiders have in their quarterback room, and it’s just not enough.

It never helps poor quarterback play when you can’t run the ball, and the Raiders can’t. This is the last team that can be one-dimensional and expect to do anything offensively. The last team that can again turn the ball over three times — two fumbles were added to the interception — and remain competitive.

It’s a bad football team right now. Road games at home. Bad coaching. Untimely penalties. Zero running game. Subpar offensive line. And the quarterback play.

“Our record is what it shows,” Pierce said. “We’re 2-4. It’s not good enough. We’re not coaching well enough, we’re not playing well enough, and we’re not detailing well enough. … The turnover thing is embarrassing. We don’t respect the ball enough, so we don’t even deserve a chance to put ourselves into position to win.”

Said O’Connell: “There’s really no excuse. You’ve got to go out and execute. That’s our job.”

This is on everyone. The coaches. The general manager. All the way to the owner’s suite. The players. No one escapes blame for how things have materialized through six games. This has been a total franchise effort of incompetency.

Mirrors don’t lie

The crowd was another thing altogether. It’s the same thing the Chargers have faced since moving to Los Angeles, but they don’t have the rich history of the Raiders.

There was one point when his team needed a defensive stand, and Pierce was waving his arms to get folks riled up. And all those Steelers fans didn’t oblige.

“Taken aback by the support we got,” Tomlin said. “You know, continually, man, they show up.”

So did his team.

As for the Raiders, not at all. Tried changing quarterbacks. Made no difference. Same ol’ issues. Backbreaking penalties. Turnovers. No rhythm offensively. Defensive breakdowns. Coaching miscues.

“It takes looking at ourselves in the mirror,” O’Connell said. “I think each one of us looking at ourselves first, starting with me, and just trying to get better.”

Sorry. The mirror won’t lie.

Not with this sort of 2-4.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.