The Raiders made a big quarterback change.
Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce had seen enough of starter Gardner Minshew with the Raiders trailing the Broncos 20-10 in the third quarter on Sunday.
Minshew couldn't get the offense moving, throwing for just 137 yards with one passing touchdown and two interceptions. His second turnover was the last straw, heading to the bench in favor of backup quarterback Aidan O'Connell for the remainder of the game.
Why was Minshew benched and what does the Raiders' QB depth chart look like behind him? The Sporting News has answers below.
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Gardner Minshew stats vs. Broncos
- Comp-Att: 12-17 (70.6%)
- Pass Yds: 137
- Pass TDs: 1
- INTs: 2
- Carries: 2
- Rush Yds: 22
- Rush TDs: 0
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Why was Gardner Minshew benched?
Raiders head coach Pierce made a necessary quarterback change during the third quarter of Sunday's game against the Broncos. Starting quarterback Minshew was replaced by backup O'Connell following the former's second turnover of the contest.
Las Vegas scored on its first two drives of the game to take an early 10-0 lead but the offense stalled on every possession after that. Here's how the Raiders' ensuing drives played out until Minshew's benching.
- Interception returned for Denver TD
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Interception
In that span, Denver rattled off 20 unanswered points to take a commanding lead midway through the third quarter. In seeing those drive results, Pierce's decision to change signal callers was pretty self-explanatory.
Minshew has been less than stellar this season, throwing more interceptions (5) than touchdowns (4). Las Vegas went into this game ranking in the bottom half of the league in both total yards and points per game, so the hope was that O'Connell could bring some new life to the offense.
O'Connell didn't have much more success, though.
He finished with 94 passing yards and one interception but did lead one scoring drive in garbage time. After the game, head coach Pierce would not commit to a starting quarterback moving forward.
During his post-game press conference, Raiders HC Antonio Pierce declined to name his team’s starting QB for Las Vegas’ Week 6 game vs. the Steelers.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 6, 2024
Pierce was asked again about the starting quarterback during his Monday press conference. He still wouldn't name a starting quarterback for Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pierce views it as an in-season quarterback competition between Minshew and O'Connell.
Raiders HC Antonio Pierce told reporters that he’s still evaluating who will be the team’s starting QB, Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell. For now, the team is treating it like a competion before deciding who will start vs. the Steelers.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2024
Raiders QB depth chart
| Role | Player |
| QB1 | Gardner Minshew |
| QB2 | Aidan O'Connell |
