It was a downright ugly affair in Week 14 for Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce and rookie signal-caller Aidan O’Connell. Has Raider Nation seen enough?
For O’Connell, it must have been one of the most embarrassing losses he’s ever been involved in. The Purdue product saw the team rally behind him following Josh McDaniels’ exit from the Raiders. Some fans had wondered if the former head coach had thrown his rookie under the bus prior to being fired. Fast forward a few weeks, and it seems some fans have made their minds up—he’ll be a solid NFL backup, but he’s not the organization’s savior.
As for Pierce, how the mighty have fallen, right? Fans will recall a jubilant locker room after a 2-0 start to his interim run. Victory cigars—remember those? Now it seems some within Raider Nation will light up a cigar once Pierce, like McDaniels, is shown the door. That sounds harsh but scoring zero points at home coming off a bye week (two weeks of preparation) is simply inexcusable. Yes, he’s a defensive coach, but, fair or not, he’s the leader.
Have Raiders fans seen enough from the young duo?
Again, the assessments sound harsh, but the NFL is a results-driven enterprise. And, as of late, there’s not much that would lead owner Mark Davis to believe either of the two is a long-term answer. With that being said, what about Raider Nation?
The biggest reason that the Las Vegas Raiders scored zero points on Sunday is ____.
— RaiderRamble.com™ (@TheRaiderRamble) December 11, 2023
Following Sunday’s action (or lack thereof), we posed the question to our readers. The recurring theme for most of our responses was that both the head coach and quarterback are most responsible for Week 14’s debacle.
What’s interesting is that neither Aidan O’Connell nor Antonio Pierce will have much time to rest their laurels. The Raiders will be playing on Thursday Night Football—perhaps a quick turnaround is what both of them need. Accept the loss, process it, and transfer it to Cincinatti. If not, Thursday could be another disaster.
*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images