Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce is 2-0 after taking over for Josh McDaniels. Some applaud the Super Bowl champion for getting the Silver and Black back to .500. However, Dan Patrick isn’t one of those people.
So, why does Patrick seem unimpressed by Pierce winning his first two games with the Raiders?
Heading into the 2023 NFL season with names such as Davante Adams, Maxx Crosby and Josh Jacobs on the roster, many viewed the Raiders as a team that should push for a playoff appearance. This fact sheds light into Patrick’s stance.
Dan Patrick believes the Raiders are supposed to be a good team
While Las Vegas was 3-5 at one point this season, leading to the firing of McDaniels, it wasn’t because the team lacks talent. The Raiders aren’t the Carolina Panthers or New York Giants, being a team that’s clearly going through a rebuild or a team that needs to hit the reset button.
The Silver and Black have arguably the league’s best wide receiver in Davante Adams, one of the best pass rushers in Maxx Crosby, and the current rushing champion in Josh Jacobs; the Raiders’ terrible start is due to the underperformance of the squad, which for now is attributed to McDaniels.
Las Vegas turning the ship around under Pierce with wins over the Giants and New York Jets should be expected from the team, according to Patrick. The Giants will be in the race for Caleb Williams. Meanwhile, the Jets’ offense is nonexistent after Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles injury in Week 1.
“You guys are supposed to be good,” Patrick said Monday on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “Once again, you have an elite running back, an elite wide receiver, and an elite edge rusher. How many teams have that? And how many of them are playoff teams? You guys should be good.”
Will Mark Davis hold onto Antonio Pierce?
Pierce is doing something McDaniels struggled with during his tenure with the Silver and Black: beating floundering teams. This season, the Raiders lost on the road to the Chicago Bears who didn’t have Justin Fields. Chicago started an undrafted rookie at quarterback, Tyson Bagent.
The 45-year-old has Las Vegas at 5-5 and will now face the most challenging part of the schedule. Ahead of the Raiders are the Kansas City Chiefs twice, the Miami Dolphins, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Minnesota Vikings. These are all teams that could be in the playoffs at the end of this season. It’s not an easy road for Pierce.
Nonetheless, if the Raiders can pull out some unexpected wins and put themselves in a spot to clinch a playoff berth, the question will be whether Pierce has done enough to keep the position. Las Vegas would be back in a familiar situation, mirroring Rich Bisaccia.
Bisaccia guided the team to the playoffs in 2021 as an interim head coach. However, the Raiders didn’t give him the job permanently. Instead, owner Mark Davis went with McDaniels, and well, that was a very costly mistake—literally. Is keeping Las Vegas in the playoff hunt enough for Davis to give Pierce an entire season at the helm?
*Top Photo: