Steelers - 32, Raiders - 13
Q. Antonio, wanted to take you back to the play right before the fumble at the goal line. It looked like -- from up top it looked like it was a play that could have been a touchdown. Was there any consideration to challenging it at that point? I know you guys went hurry up on the next play.
ANTONIO PIERCE: We went hurry up. I actually feel like he was in or out, it was close, inside zone run play. Not expecting a fumble to happen on the next one. So that's kind of how it played out.
Q. Coach, it seemed like you came out of the gate really well, really well executed first drive. What happened? It seemed like the rhythm stopped after that first drive.
ANTONIO PIERCE: Sounds like the Denver Broncos week. Exact same thing. Came out aggressively on offense. Went down there and went through our play script, ten-play drive, touchdown, after we gave up a field goal. We had some three and outs there.
Obviously when you have negative plays on P and 10 there and then get back in those second and longs, second and nine, and you put yourself behind the eight ball on third down.
We didn't convert early -- excuse me not early -- late first quarter into second quarter.
Q. What do you feel needs to happen, whether it's from the coaching staff, leaders on this team, to make sure this thing gets stymied right here rather than sliding and continuing to slide in the opposite direction?
ANTONIO PIERCE: As far as losing? It starts with discipline. We had four penalties, but they were at critical moments. The turnover thing is embarrassing. We don't respect the ball enough, so we don't even deserve a chance to put ourself into position to win.
Details. Obviously adjustments as the game goes on. We talked about the first drive, helluva job there. Then what does that lead up?
I think defensively, I thought really good job in the first half tackling. Then as the game went on, you saw it be a little more leaky. Again, really it's work. We've just got to go back and get to work. It's very cliche, but it's true.
Q. You guys had a lot of injuries on offense, but would you like to see a more aggressive approach on offense? Seemed pretty conservative in terms of play calling?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, there were some shots down the field. Obviously we didn't take them. The quarterback early on was doing a good job of getting the ball out of his hands, especially early because that's what we want to do, we want to get completions. You saw that the first drive.
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.
Q. Piggy-backing off of that question, this is a team that continues to make the mental mistake, the bad mistakes. Is this a good team that's making bad mistakes, or with all due respect, is it a good team right now?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Our record is what it shows, 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. More importantly, when you turn the ball over, you don't give yourself a chance. Again, minus three plus a blocked punt.
Q. Was it a plan to get Laube a carry this week? Was that kind of the plan going in?
ANTONIO PIERCE: It was a plan to get him in.
Q. We know that the Raiders were coming into this game banged up. We know about the trade talks with Davante maybe being a distraction. We just want to know overall what do you rate the effort from the team minus the mistakes and penalties?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I thought the effort was fine. I thought guys tried until the very end.
Q. Other than not letting it rip, do you have any comment on how Aidan played? Can you tell yet, or do you have to watch it?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I have to watch it. I thought early on it looked really crisp. We did a good job of getting the ball out, getting completions, moving the chains. Then there's a stalemate there, and he wasn't running the ball very effectively either. That doesn't happen.
Q. Going back to the aggressiveness, on that first drive out of halftime, you guys had a first and 20 and then a second and 18 and they're both runs right there. The blocked punt followed. Would you like to see a little more aggressiveness in those types of situations?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I'd like to see positive plays. Right now we don't have enough on the grass. That's all of us include.
Q. We've discussed the home crowd before, about the disparity of the fans. Is it hard to come from behind in those kind of games, the defense getting calls from the crowd?
ANTONIO PIERCE: No, we've got noise at every practice. That didn't bother us. We appreciate all of Raider nation showing up.
Q. One first half touch for Alexander Mattison after seven and a score on that first drive. Obviously being a former player, I'm just wondering how you felt like that contributed to his emotions obviously throughout the game and obviously the offense becoming stagnant?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I'm not really sure about what you mean about the emotions. I didn't see that. I'd have to watch it and talk to him.
I thought obviously on the first drive he showed up big and throughout the game as well. The key was to spread the ball around. Get a lot of guys touches. He had the hot hand and again, and that just follows up to what we were able to do on that second, third, fourth possession, where we didn't do well enough on P and 10. Blocking up front, we're not winning the line of scrimmage there, and their players made plays. That probably leads to the question that you're asking.
Q. You mentioned the focus on tackling last week in practice. Are you happy with the first half? What happened in the second half?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I thought the first half was really good, to answer your question. I thought was gang tackling, a lot of Raiders around the ball. I didn't think there was a lot of YAC there early on, getting -- obviously a big physical team on the other side.
But I think as the game went on, too much not driving your feet, sitting there reaching for the ball. You know that big running back -- even that tight end called the checkdown, and you need to get those big suckers on the ground ASAP.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports