Antonio Pierce had seen enough.
The Las Vegas Raiders head coach benched starting quarterback Gardner Minshew II on Sunday in favor of backup Aidan O’Connell. Pierce made the switch late in the third quarter as the Broncos held a 20-10 lead. The Broncos went on to secure a 34-18 victory.
Minshew had thrown his second interception of the game on the previous Las Vegas drive before being pulled. He went to the bench having completed 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards with a touchdown and the two interceptions.
The quarterback change is the latest drama in a Raiders season filled with it. Pierce made the move two weeks after criticizing his players for making “business decisions” in a blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers. The Raiders then entered Sunday’s game amid reports that a trade of three-time All-Pro receiver Davante Adams was inevitable.
The Raiders bounced back from Week 3’s loss to the Panthers with a win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 4 to improve to 2-2. But they struggled on Sunday against a Broncos led by rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
Minshew’s first interception of the day resulted in a likely two-score swing in favor of the Broncos. With the Raiders facing first-and-goal while holding a 10-3 lead, Minshew targeted rookie tight end Brock Bowers in the end zone on a play-action pass. Instead, he found safety Patrick Surtain II, who picked off the pass and returned it for a Broncos touchdown.
Instead of holding a two-score lead, the Raiders found themselves in a 10-10 tie early in the second quarter.
The Raiders found themselves playing from behind in the second half. As Denver held a 20-10 lead late in the third quarter, Minshew looked deep downfield for wide receiver Tre Tucker. Cornerback Riley Moss had tight coverage down the sideline and intercepted the jump ball at the Denver 37-yard line.
That was Minshew’s last pass of the day.
O’Connell took over for the next Las Vegas possession. He didn’t fare much better. The Raiders lost 6 yards and punted on O’Connell’s first possession. The Broncos responded with a touchdown drive to extend their lead to 27-10.
On his second possession, O’Connell threw an interception on the first play of the drive. He targeted Bowers in traffic on a pass over the middle. The ball bounced of Bowers’ hands and into those of Surtain, who recorded his second interception of the day.
The Broncos converted the turnover into another touchdown drive completed by a 9-yard scoring pass from Nix to Josh Reynolds for a 34-10 lead. This was a game the Raiders led, 10-0 in the first quarter.
The Raiders went on to add a touchdown to cut their deficit to 34-18 late in the fourth quarter. But it was far too little, too late on a mistake-filled day that allowed the Broncos to reel off 34 unanswered points with a rookie quarterback.
Nix was the best QB on the field on Sunday after a shaky four-game start to his NFL career. He finished completing 19 of 27 passes for 206 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers.
O’Connell finished the day completing 10 of 20 passes for 94 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Pierce declined to name a starter moving forward in his postgame news conference.
The Raiders now enter Week 6 ahead of a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers with questions at quarterback in addition to the ongoing trade talk surrounding Adams.
