The most annoying part of the Derek Carr Experience when he was the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback was the absolution he received from some blokes in Raider Nation. Carr was bestowed with all the praise and shielded from any blame for the team’s shortcomings.
Love him or hate him, you can’t deny Derek Carr’s toughness. That’s especially true this season. pic.twitter.com/sU0ZiriXAB
— RaiderRamble.com™ (@TheRaiderRamble) December 5, 2023
When the Raiders moved on from Carr, I assumed absolution would be gone with him. But the classic saying “when you assume, you make an *ss out of you and me” rings as loud as Great Tom in Tom Tower over here in Oxford. It’s deafening, bruv.
The Raider, who is getting the blame, you ask?
Antonio Pierce.
Bruv, you’re the one out here giving Antonio Pierce the same absolution blokes were giving Derek Carr — giving Carr all praise and no blame. So go along your merry way, dunce.
— Snitch Plissken (@SnitchPlissken) December 3, 2023
The Raiders handed Antonio Pierce a clusterf*ck of a situation…
Let’s start with this: The interim head coach wasn’t handed the most ideal of circumstances, mate.
He follows in the footsteps of super dunce Josh McDaniels and equally prat general manager Dave Ziegler. That pair of blokes was as bollocks as it can get, and that duo—whose owner, Mark Davis, chose to lead his football team, by the way—left the Raiders team that Pierce would be tapped to lead in shambles.
The Las Vegas locker room rightfully celebrated McDaniels’ dismissal, and the aura of “ding dong, the witch is dead” was the much-needed light from the darkness. There was a lot to hate about McDaniels. For me, hearing him consistently harp on the player execution item—specifically, the need for his team to execute the play calls—rang as hollow, mate. As head coach, he should be the one to fix the execution issue, either by modifying his coaching or by play-calling. That’s on him. And seeing him go, I was excited to not hear it anymore. Then, the more I heard and read about how Pierce was a player coach and a solid motivator, the more I got excited.
But, bruv. Hearing Pierce say the same thing about player execution being an issue, I only heard McDaniels’ sorry-*ss voice coming from the interim head coach’s mouth.
“You’re never going to knock another team, but it’s the Raiders,” Pierce said last week when asked if the offensive struggles in the second half against Kansas City were more due to the Chiefs’ adjustments or the Raiders’ failure to execute. There are open players. We have opportunities; I’ll say that. There are opportunities there.”
Pierce went on to explain and provide context.
“The difference in that game, to be honest, if you look at the stat sheet, 58 plays and 58 plays, the time of possession, a minute give or take,” the interim coach added. “We out-rushed them almost double. In the red zone, they are 3-for-3, and we’re 1-for-3. Seven explosive plays over 15 yards for us and 17 for them. They just made them in the later part. We started off very hot. But we didn’t continue that. And when you play a team like that, they’re going to make the most of their opportunities.
“And Patrick Mahomes and them did that; they did a good job, and that’s the difference between winning and losing, man. There are three or four plays in the game, especially when you play a clean game like we played yesterday. There were no turnovers, no penalties—it was nothing of that nature. Just Jimmies and Joes, always goes back to that, Jimmies and Joes.”
That sounded like a whole lot of Josh, bruv—world salad supreme.
If it was McDaniels’ responsibility to get his team to properly execute, that ultimate responsibility is on Pierce. He’s the head coach, and that’s where the buck should stop.
When I questioned the player execution narrative and wrote about it, people told me it was on McDaniels (or the head coach) to fix it. Same standard doesn’t seem to apply for Pierce. pic.twitter.com/9L3doQJVQI
— Ray Leonard Aspuria (@AsukalAspuria) December 3, 2023
It appears that’s a tall order for some in Raider Nation to comprehend. Fans will point to this roster not being Pierce’s. This scheme, not his; the offensive coordinator, not his; etc. Again, the circumstances weren’t ideal for Pierce’s ascension.
But bloody hell, as a supposed true leader of men, Pierce deserves both praise and blame, not to be shielded from his shortcomings like he’s immune to mistakes.
Otherwise, he’s been given the absolution Carr was granted, and it took how long to realize that the former QB was part of the problem and not the solution?
Kelly’s Heroes
The decision on the GM spot merits watching. Like Pierce, Kelly was thrust into the role. Unlike the interim head coach role, which can be dissected week in and week out, the interim general manager role is harder to dissect. There are only so many moves Kelly can make at this point in the season. The Raiders currently do have two open spots on the 53-man roster after veteran cornerback Marcus Peters and safety Roderic Teamer were ousted as the team embarked on the bye week last Monday.
Unless Davis takes into account the offseason additions—free agency and the draft—as something Kelly participated in (which I don’t see how you exclude the bloke as he was a trusted voice by Ziegler), his grade when the Raiders’ 2023 season is over is incomplete.
Kelly may turn out to be a fine lad, but we’ll see if it’s in Las Vegas.
Youth To Be Served
The outcome of the Raiders’ Week 14 home matchup with the Minnesota Vikings will determine a lot going forward. If Las Vegas ends its two-game skid and drops 6-6 Minny, the team keeps its slim playoff hope alive. They can then continue to lean on the veterans on the roster. Of course, the Raiders would need to win all five of their final games. They’d also need other teams to lose out, too. But funnier things have happened, bruv.
But if the Silver and Black Blokes fall at home to the Vikings, that’ll drop the Raiders to 5-8. At that point, it’s time to see what the team has in its younger players moving forward. The four remaining games are ample opportunities to give rookies Byron Young and Nesta Jade Silvera snaps at defensive tackle. Especially since veterans John Jenkins and Adam Butler have been the primary dudes in the position. Same for rookie safety Chris Smith II and linebacker Amari Burney. Get all the film and teach tape to see if the final McDaniels/Ziegler draft haul was just two chavs being cheeky.
*Top Photo: Fox News
