There’s a lot wrong with the Las Vegas Raiders right now, but is mental toughness an issue that’s hovering over them? Head coach Antonio Pierce spoke on that matter this week.
Pierce was instrumental in rallying the Raiders following the dismissal of their former head coach Josh McDaniels. Rather than surrender and hang it up for the year, the Silver and Black displayed mental fortitude (and solitude)—they won pivotal games down the stretch last season. By doing so, they finished just one game under .500; the 8-9 record helped owner Mark Davis remove the “interim” tag from Pierce’s job.
Following an offseason filled with excitement, speeches, and much fanfare, the Raiders currently have a record of 2-4. They’ve traded away their best offensive player; the roster is muddled with injuries, and Pierce, to his detriment, appears lost at times on the field. Above all, we now find ourselves questioning whether this team is beginning to falter—two consecutive blowout losses for the Silver and Black certainly warrant a question, if not a discussion. Recently, someone asked Pierce about overcoming adversity as his team prepares to face the Rams in Los Angeles.
“Consistency. Steady with the message. I mean, I know it gets old, it gets cliche, but the things we talked about from OTAs, training camp, into the season, showing examples now because now we have real life examples from the game.”
The issue is whether the “rah-rah” message has worn in its welcome. The mantra of ill-intent and physicality hasn’t exactly shown itself on the field. Think back to the Broncos game a couple of weeks ago. Once the momentum was lost following a pick-six due to Gardner Minshew’s mental error, the Raiders appeared to have given up. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, the team scored in the opening quarter but afterward, the offense was nowhere to be seen. The team never really mounted a resistance, it was a snowball effect.
All of this to say, not all of it is on Antonio Pierce…
Key injuries have severely impacted this team, making it a tale of “next man up.” You could argue that this should be the team’s motto going forward.
“We got 53 guys, plus the 16, luckily for us, 17 guys on the practice squad. So, you’re talking about 70 players that at any given time can play in the game. And you got to be ready, you got to be mentally sharp, and the focus we talked about there. And then just try not to fix everything, but just fix that one thing.”
Technically, Pierce is right. You need to address one issue at a time, but time is not on his side in this situation—what if the Raiders continue to lose? At that point, the issues might become too numerous to overcome.
*Top Photo: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
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