New Coach Antonio Pierce Wins Raiders Debut And Answers Question Whether It's Sustainable
The NFL is better when the Raiders are relevant and with Antonio Pierce winning his debut as the team's interim coach, the Raiders are relevant now.
Clearly energized by the replacement of former coach Josh McDaniels with Pierce, the Raiders easily overmatched the visiting New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.
The score was 30-6 but this game wasn't really as close as the score. The Raiders took a 27-0 lead and never seemed threatened in the second half as they cruised to a victory.
"Just getting back to being ourselves," Pierce said afterward. "Everything that's going on is in front of us, not behind us.
"It's going back to our roots. How did we all get here? When you were in Pop Warner you just had a" joy and love for the game. I felt like we lost that for a bit. But it came back on Thursday. If you had been at practice, you would have saw it. And Friday same exact thing.
"They want to do it each other. They want that feeling, that joy that now they're celebrating and dancing and having a great time in that locker room."
'Butterflies' For Raiders Antonio Pierce
So, yeah, just win baby.
This is the first victory for Pierce as a coach. And although he's known success as a player before and won a championship in Super Bowl XLII as a player before, this one touched him.
It was obviously special. Pierce said he felt nervous before a game three times in his life:
His first NFL game.
The Super Bowl in which his Giants beat the Patriots.
And this game.
"It's up there," he admitted. "My stomach, I had some butterflies before the game and that hasn't happened but two other times in my life. It was special. Very special."
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 05: Adam Butler #69 and Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders react after a tackle in the third quarter of a game at Allegiant Stadium on November 05, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
Raiders Find Their Pass Rush
Pierce said after he ascended to the head coach job that the team's plans would be to rely on its stars making plays. And that's what the Raiders did.
You should recall Pierce was a linebacker coach before he took the interim job. And he played linebacker for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins years ago. So the new coach wanted to get after the opposing quarterback.
The sounded like a challenge for a team that managed only 16 sacks in their first eight games under McDaniels. But new coach and, voila, pass rush:
The Raiders made life miserable for Giants quarterbacks Daniel Jones (until he left the game with what is feared to be a serious knee injury) and then backup Tommy DeVito.
And the leader of a eight-sack charge was defensive end Maxx Crosby, who delivered three sacks.
This happened in a game the Giants brought their best offensive line combination of the season because both right tackle Evan Neal and left tackle Andrew Thomas, injured most of the season, were in the starting lineup.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 05: Josh Jacobs #8 of the Las Vegas Raiders celebrates with Netane Muti #54 after a touchdown in the second quarter of a game against the New York Giants at Allegiant Stadium on November 05, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
Josh Jacobs Season Best Gives Raiders A Boost
The Raiders offense also helped. They started rookie Aidan O'Connell at quarterback and he didn't turn the ball. And the running game?
The Raiders got over 100 yards. It was 125 to be exact.
The Raiders were 0-5 in games they gave running back Josh Jacobs the football fewer than 19 times. And they were 3-0 in games they let the 2022 rushing champ run the ball at least 19 times or more.
So, shockingly, the Raiders gave Jacobs the ball. He rushed 26 times for a season-high 98 yards. Jacobs also scored 2 TDs.
"I saw that heart beating," Pierce said of Jacobs. "When you watch Josh, you know he runs angry. And he got back to that running style we saw last year. And it was just feed him. Go."
So the question becomes is this sustainable? Can the energy and urgency the Raiders displayed on Sunday become a theme the rest of the season even as the coaching change loses its newness?
"This is great team win, this a great win for Raider Nation," Pierce said. "The fans, our players, our organization, I'm proud of the opportunity to coach these gentlemen. And we're going to do it again next week."