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'It's a wake up call': Raiders look to reevaluate after lackluster showing vs. Panthers

Within the span of seven days, the Las Vegas Raiders have been on both sides of the "Any Given Sunday" mantra.

Coming hot off a 26-23 road victory against the Baltimore Ravens, who had the best record in the NFL last season, things cooled down at home against the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers came into the game with the 32nd ranked offense and 31st ranked defense, but all that went out window at kickoff. The Silver and Black surrendered a season-high 36 points to a Carolina offense rejuvenated by Andy Dalton.

"It was poor. It was not good enough," Antonio Pierce said postgame. "The crowd was ready, I appreciate the crowd and everybody showing up. They did their part and we did not."

"What we thought was going to work didn't work," Pierce added, "and on the grass we didn't execute, nor did we put forth the effort that we did in games past."

The Raiders couldn't get things clicking in any phase of the game, losing the turnover battle and were outgained by over 100 yards of total offense.

A bright spot of the game was second-year receiver Tre Tucker with a career-high seven receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown. He was also involved in the most explosive play of the day for the Raiders offense with a 54-yard grab in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, his emotions following the best statistical day of his young career were blunt: "It sucks."

"We didn't get the win, so in my head, it doesn't matter what individual stats you had at the end of the day if you didn't win," Tucker said. "Last week, I don't know how many yards I had, I know it wasn't a bunch, but we won and I enjoyed it. I enjoy winning far more than I enjoy individual stats."

Maxx Crosby, who finished the day with three tackles and a pass deflection, echoed Pierce and Tucker's sentiments. The veteran edge rusher kept things simple with his viewpoint of how the game went.

"This is the NFL. If you don't play your best, you're not ready to go," Crosby said. "I don't know what to attribute that to, but this is a full roster of guys. So, a lot of us got to look in the mirror. Everybody's got to continue getting better.

"It's not the end of the world but it's a wake up call. You got to better, period. Simple as that."

View photos from the Raiders' Week 3 matchup against the Carolina Panthers at Allegiant Stadium.

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