It’s been a disappointing start to the season for the Raiders, but head coach Antonio Pierce believes he still has the team in his corner despite a 2-7 start.
When asked this week the about the bye week, Pierce said it came at a critical time.
“We needed it,” Pierce said on Wednesday. “We needed to take a good cold shower, a cold bath, to wash all that badness off that took place over the nine games and I think our staff did the same. I know our players did, but they were still around the building which is the best thing about it.”
“People might question our locker room, might question our coaching, or might question me, but you can’t question our commitment,” Pierce continued. “We’re committed to this bad boy and turning it around. When they got in here Tuesday, that’s what I felt. That’s what they felt from me and hopefully you feel it right now.”
As far as what the Raiders accomplished during the bye week, it sounds like the coaching staff did a lot of reflecting and watching film.
Two weeks isn’t enough time to craft a new playbook, but it is enough time to remove the plays and concepts that weren’t working [enter your joke here].
“I was told specifically that it’s been a film fest for the offensive coaches,” Sports Illustrated insider Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “It’s been a pairing of the playbook, adding [and] subtracting. [Pierce] knows what he wants to do, which is the old Al Davis system. Pound the ball and go down the field with a vertical attack… that has not changed.”
It will be interesting to see if the departure of offensive coordinator Luke Getsy will spark the offense, and it’s fair to wonder if Getsy’s demise might have been similar to what players say happened to former Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in Chicago.
“[He was] too nice of a guy,” Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen told ESPN on Wednesday. “OTAs, camp, we fell into a trap of letting things go and not holding people accountable, and that’s a slippery slope. Just professionalism and doing things the right way from the beginning.”
x: @raidersbeat
The problem with the offense might be something that Antonio Pierce cannot fix. Pierce is a DEFENSIVE coach, and a good one. His mind set is run run pass punt. His goal is to have the ball for more time than the other team, have the ball last and to win by 3. NO NFL team will ever win that way.
You NEED a coach that wants to win by 30. That when up by 28 you are still doing long bombs down the middle, cleat on their throats. You need a coach that wants to score early and often not take a knee with 1:38 in the first half being up by 6. You need long shots to set up the run game. You need play action to keep them honest. You need to have enough plays to NEVER say… “ok, same play”. You need to change it up often, disguise your intent and to play with bad intentions. You need to manage the clock to score, not just to have the ball the longest. You MUST redirect at half time as if it is a completely different game because your opponents are going to.
Sadly, none of that is in the blood of a good defensive coach – and for those reasons, AP is out.
Yes all is good, put general Minshew tank commander in. Prediction 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles. Miami defense with Campbell will destroy swamp boy. Just another move up the draft totem pole 2025. Just don’t take Saunders and his pa Deon…. Freaking baggage. Take cam ward or Jason Millie from the tide. Make Mike Vrebal head coach and bring in only an energetic young head coach. No Billy billichek no more fossils please..
Well that sounds great, pound the rock and throw deep except we don’t have a RB that can pound the rock and we don’t have a QB that can throw deep and only one receiver with enough speed to even get close to an Al Davis approved speed WR. Top 3 pick is being generous to Maxx since we know he can wreck games but since Telesco didn’t really improve the other positions on D except severely overpaying for a OK DT what do really expect? Speaking of this ridiculous roster of Telesco, what was his thinking of overpaying for a career crappy BU QB and thinking that guy would be a #1 starter? Not paying Jacobs and not trading Adams earlier (like during the draft) are career choices that the 10 year veteran GM should be fired for. Don’t get me started on lack of depth on the entire team. Harbaugh should’ve been the hire not AP. Now we’re stuck with either another listless year with AP after this season is finally over or another total rebuild which is what is desperately needed after the McZiggy debacle.