Antonio Pierce has only coached six NFL games since taking over as the Las Vegas Raiders‘ interim head coach and he’s already making history. In Week 14, the team lost 3-0 against the Minnesota Vikings, which was the lowest-scoring indoor game in NFL history.
The Raiders followed that loss up on a short week with a 63-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, which set a new franchise record for points in a game. According to a December 15 X post from Mike Jurecki of Arizona Football Daily, Pierce is the “only NFL head coach in the Super Bowl era to have his team get shut out in a game and score 63+ points in a game at any point during his entire head coaching career.”
Based on this statistic, a coach who has had their team get shutout before has never scored 63 or more points in a game in all their years of coaching. Pierce just did it in back-to-back weeks. Now, the fact that his team got shutout isn’t something to feel great about but this illustrates how impressive the quick turnaround was. This was a massive statement win for Pierce, who is hoping to get the interim tag removed from his title after the season.
Las Vegas Raiders Players Praise Antonio Pierce
It hasn’t always been a smooth transition going from Josh McDaniels to Antonio Pierce. The team is 3-3 under the interim head coach with two close losses to the Miami Dolphins and Vikings. Though the playoffs are unlikely this season, the players are still playing hard for Pierce.
Defensive tackle John Jenkins, who scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery against the Chargers, had a lot of praise for Pierce.
“We are playing hard for everybody, whoever is in this building,” Jenkins said in his December 14 postgame media availability, via The Athletic. “Everybody can see it, no matter if we win or lose. We’re just going out there swinging every chance we get. … Coach AP is an OG.”
Cornerback Jack Jones, who also scored a defensive touchdown, has been around Pierce since he was in high school. He credited the coach for where he is in his career.
“He means everything to me,” Jones said after the game. “He is like a father figure. From high school to now, mentoring me through the ups and downs. Without him, who knows where I would be at.”
Nate Hobbs Stumps for Antonio Pierce
It wasn’t long ago when the Raiders had another interim head coach in Rich Bisaccia. He led the team to the playoffs but that wasn’t enough for owner Mark Davis to retain him. Cornerback Nate Hobbs was part of the Bisaccia team and he doesn’t want to see the Raiders repeat the same mistake of making a coaching change.
“He is a hell of a coach,” Hobbs said in his postgame media availability, via The Athletic. “My rookie year, the same thing happened. We closed out the season strong, similar to this, with Bisaccia and we got rid of him. Hopefully, that’s a sign.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The players clearly want Pierce to keep the head coaching job going forward but there are still three games left in the season. If the same Raiders team that beat the Chargers comes out to play for the rest of the year, it’ll be Pierce’s job to lose.
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Raiders’ Antonio Pierce Reaches Feat No Coach in NFL History Can Claim