Raiders manage to keep things close against Falcons

The grand reasoning for how the Raiders stayed in the game for so long was the play of their defense. Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked three times by Tyree Wilson, Adam Butler and rookie Jonah Laulu. They also held him to 117 passing yards with an interception by Robert Spillane. Atlanta’s offense was also held to 4-of-13 (31 percent) on third downs.

“We’ve just got to go back to work and watch the film and try to correct the things we did bad and keep continuing to do the things we did right,” Wilson said.

“It came down to the last series,” he continued. “I feel we’re real close, but close don’t matter. We’ve got to get there.”

The Raiders have three more games this season to rectify some of their recent misfortunes and break their 10-game losing streak. The next opportunity comes against the Jacksonville Jaguars at home on a short week.

“It really ain’t about me. It’s not about the individuals, it’s about the team,” Pierce said. “This is what we’ve been building on and working on since the offseason into training camp and then into the season. You just saw them in there at the very end of the game, everybody dapping each other, loving each other up and just keep fighting. … Just hasn’t gone our way which has now become transparent and redundant.

“But it’s not really about them fighting for me, we’re fighting for one another. We understand where we’re at. We get what’s going on.”