NFL offseason power rankings: No. 26 Las Vegas Raiders and Antonio Pierce start with a big QB question

Maxx Crosby will anchor a Raiders defensive line that figures to be one of the best in the NFL this season. (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports)

Antonio Pierce did everything an interim head coach should do to earn the full-time job.

The Las Vegas Raiders played harder and better when he took over. He got the players to buy in, and they lobbied for him to get the job. He knew that playing up the mystique of “The Raider Way” would play well with the fan base. Pierce was hired and everyone seemed happy.

It’s also worth wondering if Pierce looked good because he was taking over for one of the worst head coaches in modern NFL history.

Josh McDaniels was as big of a debacle with the Raiders as he was with the Denver Broncos more than a decade earlier, repeating many of the same mistakes. The Raiders were bad in every way, and seemed like a team that had checked out for a leader they didn’t like playing for. When McDaniels made the inexplicable decision to start 38-year-old Brian Hoyer in a game against the Chicago Bears and the Raiders lost 30-12 with Hoyer playing as poorly as everyone but McDaniels expected, that summed up the state of the team. You can’t win with a bad head coach. Given how low the bar was, it was almost impossible for Pierce to not look like an upgrade after McDaniels was fired during the season.

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And Pierce wasn’t bad on his own merits. He went 5-4 and that included a win at the Kansas City Chiefs and a stunning 63-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. His energy made a noticeable difference. The win over the Chiefs was startling and gave the Raiders and Pierce some bravado heading into the offseason. If Pierce ends up being a good coach for Las Vegas, we’ll point back to that 20-14 win at Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas as a huge moment for the franchise. The Raiders made the right call to hire Pierce and see if they stumbled upon a big answer at head coach.

It’s still a big challenge for Pierce to keep…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-26 11:24:58

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