Getty Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels.
In the Las Vegas Raiders‘ first game since firing head coach Josh McDaniels, the team dominated the New York Giants, 30-6. It was the first time all season the offense scored 20 or more points and the defense allowed fewer than 10 points.
The Raiders’ locker room was a party following the win with many players busting out cigars. During the celebration, rookie defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera decided to take a bit of a shot at McDaniels.
“Why these f*** n****s keep me on the bench so long?” Silvera asked on a November 5 Instagram Live. “Shoutout [Antonio Pierce], man.”
What’d I say every week so far?! FREE 99 #RaiderNation
Silvera was a seventh-round pick by the Raiders this year and he put together a strong training camp. Despite that, the team had him active for only one game in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Silvera is clearly referencing that fact in his Instagram Live.
Silvera didn’t have a big game as he only made one assisted tackle but he’s happy to be able to put on the pads for a game. Some players appear to be thrilled with the coaching change and interim head coach Antonio Pierce is off to a very good start.
Antonio Pierce Explains Messaging Before Game
After back-to-back ugly losses to the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, the Raiders were headed in the wrong direction. Even the team’s three previous wins weren’t pretty. Though the team made a massive coaching change in the middle of the week, they put together their best performance of the season.
Antionio Pierce explained his messaging heading into the game.
“Just let us go back to our roots,” Pierce said during his November 5 postgame media availability. “How did we all get here? You know, I said in the press conference, in Pop Warner, you just had that joy and love for the game. And I just felt like we’d lost that for a bit. And like I told you came back on Thursday if you were at practice you would have saw it. Friday, same exact thing. And then just their focus throughout the building.
“I mean, obviously, there’s videos of the guys playing hoops, having fun, just enjoying themselves, but then we went to the grass, it was work and business, and they understand that. But more importantly, they want to do it for each other. They just want that feeling that joy that they’re now celebrating dancing and having a great time in that locker room.”
Having more levity in the locker room this week paid huge dividends.
Antonio Pierce Praises Team
The Raiders haven’t won a game by more than 10 points since a 38-20 win over the Houston Texans in Week 7 of last season. This is the most impressive win for Las Vegas in over a year.
Antonio Pierce spoke about how proud he is of the team and how they performed.
“I think we showed that today,” Pierce said. “I don’t have to talk about it, I think. If you watch the game, it was just the thing. I think it started up front, it started with the O-line and D-line, it is a mentality. It’s about taking somebody’s will. Then you get the tee off like you saw like we did with a quarterback get eight sacks. So, it goes hand in hand and listen, you know, there’s a lot of great teams, they got somebody up front on both sides that have put fear in the heart. … More importantly, this is a great team win. This is a great win for Raider Nation, the fans, our players, our organization. I’m proud to have the opportunity to coach these gentlemen, and we’re gonna do it again next week.”