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Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Raiders let a prime opportunity slip away against the Kansas City Chiefs. With just seconds left in regulation, the offense drove within field goal range but a miscommunication led to center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapping the ball too early and quarterback Aidan O’Connell fumbling the snap, which Chiefs recovered.
Well-coached teams like Kansas City don’t make mistakes like that so it’s not a great look for Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce. Following the 19-17 loss, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer gave some insight into Pierce’s job status.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty that’s being felt on the part of the coaching staff,” Breer said on a clip posted to X following the game. “They’ve been given no assurances on 2025. There’s a lot of buzz league-wide that Antonio Pierce could be one-and-done as a head coach.”
The fact that owner Mark Davis hasn’t given Pierce any assurances could be telling. The coach’s first full year has been marred with poor play from the team and questionable coaching decisions. There’s no doubt Davis would prefer it if he didn’t have to launch another coaching search but he also can’t ignore the fact that Pierce has appeared in over his head much of the season.
Antonio Pierce Explains Final Play
The Raiders’ final offensive play didn’t necessarily even need to happen. The team could’ve just sent Daniel Carlson out there for the game-winning field goal. However, he had already missed three that game so it makes sense if the offense was trying to get a little closer to the field goal.
The problem is that the Raiders weren’t trying to gain yards on the play.
“We were going to throw the ball away and waste four or five more seconds and kick the field goal,” Pierce said in his postgame press conference.
It’s questionable why the Raiders offense would have a directive to throw the ball away no matter what. It just goes back to the questionable coaching concerns.
Antonio Pierce Proud of Raiders
The Raiders were massive underdogs against the Chiefs so the fact that they were in a position to win in the end was a positive sign. Pierce had a lot of good things to say about the team after the game.
“They fought their [expletive] off until the end,” Pierce said. “All three phases at some point contributed to help us get into that position.”
Though the season has gone about as bad as it could and the team is officially out of playoff contention, Pierce is happy with the effort that his players continue to put in.
“I’m proud of my team,” Pierce said. “The record is what it is, but this is a team that’s prideful and that’s playing for one another. There’s no quit. There’s no putting their heads down or their chins down.
“But I don’t want to keep saying that after losses, right? We’ve just got to keep battling. They’ll have some time off, and we’ll regroup. But one thing I’m not going to take away is the effort, the pride and the way they competed.”
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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