Minshew, O'Connell flop as Raiders lose second straight in preseason

The Raiders’ quarterback decision didn’t get any easier after their second preseason game.

Coach Antonio Pierce had intimated he’d pick a starter between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell after Saturday’s home preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

The implicit hope was that one of two candidates would clearly claim the job in front of the home fans at Allegiant Stadium. That didn’t happen in a 27-12 loss to the Cowboys.

Minshew and O’Connell both put memories of successful outings in last week’s one-point loss at Minnesota behind with poor performances against Dallas.

“Everyone wants to see a player just take it and say, 'Hey I’m the guy,'" Pierce said after the game. "I’ve been saying it since Day 1. Well, obviously, that’s probably not the case so we’re going to have to make a decision and we’re going to live with it and we’re going to support whoever the quarterback is for the Raiders going forward.”

Pierce said he was still prepared to announce the starter in the next few days, but wanted to first confer with general manager Tom Telesco and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Neither Minshew nor O'Connell will play in the preseason finale at 7 p.m. Friday night when the Raiders host the 49ers. 

The veteran Minshew got the start against the Cowboys and hit second-year receiver Tre Tucker with a 48-yard gain to set up the first of two short Daniel Carlson field goals on Las Vegas’ second drive but was otherwise completely out of sync.   

Minshew played five possessions and completed only 10 of 21 pass attempts for 95 yards.

"Not good enough," Minshew described his performance. "I had some missed throws, a misread I think, all the steps I can grow and improve on. I think we shot ourselves in the foot a lot tonight. Any time you do that, you’re going to have a hard time." 

The stage was set for O’Connell to seize the job and, for a while at least, it looked like that was exactly what would happen. The second-year, fourth-round pick out of Purdue led the Raiders on a 13-play, 57-yard touchdown drive the first time they got the ball in the second half.

The score came on a 5-yard pass to tight end Harrison Bryant, giving the Raiders the lead at 13-12.

But it was short-lived, entirely because of O’Connell.

The next time Las Vegas’ offense took the field, O’Connell threw an interception right to Dallas reserve corner Kemon Hall, who returned it untouched 69 yards for what wound up the game-winning score. O'Connell voiced, "my fault," as he took off his helmet and ran off the field.

He finished with a statistics line of 96 yards on 14-for-20 passing with recently-reacquired journeyman quarterback Nathan Peterman taking over after the turnover.

“To be the last play is definitely tough. That one will linger but it’s football. You’re going to learn from it, move on and I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

Peterman couldn’t spur much success for the Raiders, which fell to 0-2 in the preseason.

Dallas’ first touchdown came at the expense of top Las Vegas cornerback Jack Jones, who bit on a double-move by sixth-round rookie receiver Ryan Flournoy in the end zone late in the second quarter. 

Flournoy hauled in a 1-yard pass from quarterback Trey Lance to put Dallas up 10-6.

After O'Connell failed to push the Raiders down the field on the ensuing drive, Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey provided the highlight of the night. He booted through a 66-yard field goal, which would have tied the record for longest in NFL history if it wasn't the preseason, that got the large segment of Cowboys' fans in the building clamoring.  

Lance, who finished with 151 passing yards and 36 rushing yards, ran in the Cowboys’ final touchdown from the 2-yard line just before the second half’s two-minute warning.  

Tucker was the skill player that stood out the most for the Raiders with three catches for 66 yards. Both Minshew and O’Connell missed him on a couple other passes that could have added to his production.

Minshew said he was ready to accept whatever decision Pierce made on the quarterback competition. 

“We’ve had a super-competitive camp, kind of neck-in-neck the whole way," Minshew said. "I feel like we’ve both put together a great body of work, played some great ball and left it up to coach to make a hard decision. I feel good about everything we’ve done to this point. I’m super optimistic about what we’re going to be able to do as a team this year."

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or