As a coach with a defensive background, Antonio Pierce isn’t all that comfortable throwing 43 passes in a game.

But that’s what his Raiders did in Sunday’s 34-19 loss at Miami, which Pierce attributed Monday to needing to catch up while playing from behind.

He said it’s important that Las Vegas still try to establish a run game, which it tried to do in the first half in rushing 12 times for 49 yards. But the Raiders haven’t had a ground attack to speak of this season, and that’s the problem.

Pierce might not want to throw the ball 43 times, but that’s reality for the Raiders. Putting the ball in the air is their best — and maybe only — hope.

“Not to talk about other teams, but other teams with really elite quarterbacks and throwing the ball 40 times doesn’t equal a win,” Pierce said. “So you want to find that balance, and for us, that’s what we’re still searching for.”

The Raiders (2-8), who have lost six straight, are searching for a lot of things on offense. They came out of Sunday’s loss ranked 30th in yards per game (285.0), last in rushing (75.2) and 25th in scoring (18.7 points).

Gardner Minshew remains the starting quarterback, and he didn’t play poorly against the Dolphins. He completed 30 of his 43 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.

With the Dolphins taking away the deep threat, Minshew worked the underneath routes, particularly to tight end Brock Bowers, who caught 13 passes for 126 yards and a TD.

Throwing to Bowers makes a lot of strategic sense, and new interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner is trying to make the best of a bad situation.

No downfield attack. No running game.

That makes for a one-dimensional offense.

It’s a tough formula for success, and the results bear that out.

“We’re down, man,” Minshew said. “I’ve been on teams where you send it in, but we’re not doing that. We practice hard, dude. We come up, we show up and lift on Mondays. We haven’t been getting the results and we’ve been plays short, but I feel like we continue on our process, continue trying to get better. It’s going to break for us.”

STEELERS-BROWNS RENEW RIVALRY

Even as a kid growing up in Alabama, Jameis Winston appreciated the Steelers-Browns rivalry with its tradition rooted in neighborly nastiness.

For Winson, all it took was for him to hear NFL Films narrator John Facenda — nicknamed “the voice of God” — to understand that Pittsburgh facing Cleveland meant a little more than your average football game.

“Seeing the blood, sweat, tears that happened. These games are hard-nosed, hard-fought,” Winston said, balling his fist and punching his other hand for emphasis. “True definition of cold-weather football game. This is premiere.”

Tonight, Winston, who passed for 395 yards last week, gets thrown into one of league’s fiercest feuds as the Steelers (8-2) visit the Browns (2-8) in a game that looked more tantalizing on the schedule in September than it does now.

Pittsburgh again is atop the tough-as-it-gets AFC North while Cleveland’s season has dissolved into an ugly mess that may require another major offseason overhaul for a franchise that was convinced the worst was behind it.

The Steelers have won five straight and are coming off an 18-16 win at home over the Baltimore Ravens. While not aesthetically pleasing, the victory had many familiar traits from Pittsburgh’s recent past — stout defense and solid special teams.

If the Browns have anything going for them it’s that Thursday has been their day.

Cleveland has won eight straight home games on Thursdays, including two in the past five years over the Steelers.