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'We can't just bow down': Raiders offense comes alive in the second half to seal the deal in Baltimore

Enough was enough for the Raiders offense.

Nothing really went their way in the first half of Sunday's matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. The offense allowed three sacks to the Ravens defense, plus committed a turnover in the second quarter. Momentum in moving the ball down the field was continuously halted, as the team settled for two field goals from Daniel Carlson.

The defense was doing their part, keeping reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and his offense out of the end zone. But at halftime, down 9-6, the offense gathered together in the locker room. A frank discussion of their play set the tone heading back on to field. They knew they had to dig deep down and find ways to complement the other two phases of the game.

"We came in here at halftime and said, 'We can run with these guys,'" tackle Thayer Munford Jr. said postgame. "We can't just bow down to them because they were just in the AFC Championship Game. Our defense was playing their asses off, we had to do something. We came together and said, 'Screw it, let's go.'"

After Robert Spillane picked off Lamar Jackson in the third quarter, the tides truly turned. The Raiders offense scored on four straight possessions which included touchdowns from Alexander Mattison and Davante Adams. Carlson knocked in another two field goals, including one to ultimately win the game, 26-23.

"Congratulations to our offense and our team, but we've still got work to do. ... There's a lot of meat on the bone," Antonio Pierce said. "I'll be honest, we've got to run the ball better. But I do say this, we came out in the second half, especially late in that third quarter, protected the quarterback."

Protecting the quarterback was definitely a decisive factor in helping the team pull off the comeback win. Gardner Minshew II finished the day with 276 passing yards while completing nearly 79 percent of his passes. His ability to extend plays paid dividends down the stretch.

"I didn't play good enough in the first half," Minshew said. "I felt protection was really good in the second half. Then we just had guys on the outside making plays."

"Started getting Tae [Davante Adams] really involved, Brock [Bowers] was balling, Kob [Jakobi Meyers] had a huge catch, Z [Zamir White] had some runs, that's what it can be," Minshew added of the offense's second-half showing. "And that's the challenge, to be consistent with that. I look forward to continuing to build on that momentum. I think everybody feels pretty great about it. There's a ton of tape to clean up, we're going to do that, but I think everybody feels and believes what we can be as an offense."

Minshew's main two targets on the day were Davante Adams and rookie tight end Brock Bowers. They combined for 18 catches and 208 receiving yards, becoming the first duo in franchise history to have at least nine catches and 90 receiving yards a piece in a game.

Adams, who caught the game-tying touchdown, was also one of the players to speak up in the locker room at halftime. According to the star receiver, "we just got tired."

"Just tired of having these games where we put so much on our defense," Adams said. "We talked to one another, not rowdy but I did speak up a little bit and used some voices to get guys going. You could kind of see it in everyone's eyes, a switch flipped and looked like a different team."

"To be able to dig deep and figure it out," Adams added, "means a lot to us."

View photos from the Raiders' Week 2 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

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