The Las Vegas Raiders are still basking in their 63-21 shellacking of the AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers. The win was the largest ever for the Raiders over the Chargers, and they also set a franchise record for points in the Thursday night blowout. It was also a coming out of sorts for a Raiders offense that hadn’t seen a touchdown since Week 12 against another AFC West foe, Kansas City.
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce, who took over six games ago after Josh McDaniels was fired, is now 3-3. The former Super Bowl champion-winning linebacker also made a bit of history in Thursday’s win becoming the first sideline stalker in Super Bowl era to have his team score zero points in the week prior to putting up at least 63 points the very next time out. In the six games under the Pierce the Raiders have shown fight, grit and toughness not seen under McDaniels.
But it enough to land him the job permanently?
Davis Likes Pierce But Isn’t Ready To Remove Interim Tag
Since Pierce, the Compton, California, native, took over the eye test shows they’re playing harder. Even Davis told reporters following the back-to-back wins to begin his tenure that he “was impressed with the team’s energy.”
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Davis expressed his openness to having Pierce and interim GM Champ Kelly become permanent, but as he did with his last botched hire, he kept the door open for anything to happen.
“It’s wide open. But it’s tough at the same time because I do have Antonio and Champ in those positions, and I’d like for them to get the job. So, if I start to feel like that’s definitely the way I’m going to go — which I’m not there — then I don’t want to mislead people in the interview process. So, it’s going to be a really interesting dynamic in trying to keep my mind open to the potential things.”
Davis also let it be known that he doesn’t have to keep one to keep the other, so in his eyes they’re both auditioning for themselves and not as a duo. Which in reality is a huge mistake, and why the Raiders have a (.409) winning percentage since Davis took over the franchise following the death of his dad Al Davis in 2011.
David Can’t Be Trusted To Make The Right Decision At Head Coach
Look no further than two years ago when Rich Bisaccia stepped in admirably when Jon Gruden resigned following the release of homophobic and misogynistic emails. All Bisaccia did was lead the Raiders to the playoffs and within 4 yards of upsetting the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately, Davis felt Bisaccia wasn’t the right fit, despite the team’s success and players wanting to play for him going forward.
He instead hired Josh McDaniels as head coach and Dave Ziegler as GM, and in less than two seasons he showed them the door. While he took blame for that goof, hearing Davis talk about Pierce and even Kelly now shows he can’t be trusted to get this coaching search correct.
Pierce may need to win two of his final three contests, road games versus the Chiefs and Colts, and a home game against the Broncos, in order to land the job, but if you ask Raiders players and those around the franchise the belief is Pierce is the correct choice.
