The Las Vegas Raiders entered this season as a team with talent at nearly all of the marquee positions on the football field. They returned the previous season’s leading rusher, Josh Jacobs. They had an All-Pro receiver in Davante Adams and a veteran quarterback with the experience and familiarity with Las Vegas’ previous coaching staff to make the Raiders more than a respectable offense. On defense, they returned a budding defensive backfield with a veteran addition from last season’s NFC Champions, Philadelphia Eagles in Marcus Epps. A defensive line that contained veteran Maxx Crosby and a newly added top draft pick in defensive end Tyree Wilson. In addition, Las Vegas added linebacker Robert Spillane, who was arguably one of the better linebackers in the AFC, if not the entire National Football League. Still, the Raiders collectively struggled under former head coach Josh McDaniels. After consecutive disappointing losses to the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions, Mark Davis and the Raiders decided to relieve McDaniels, offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi, and General Manager Dave Ziegler of their respective duties and replaced them with Champ Kelly, Bo Hardegree, and Antonio Pierce.

Under Pierce, the Raiders defense, which had already shown improvement, improved even more once Pierce was promoted from linebacker coach to interim head coach. Under McDaniels, the Raiders’ defense allowed just over 23 points per game; under Pierce, that dropped to 16 points per game. The Raiders’ improvement, however, was seen beyond just the defense. After the first eight games of this season under McDaniels, the Raiders had a record of 3-5 while averaging roughly 16 points per game in an offense masterminded by and a roster put together by McDaniels. In Pierce’s first nine games at the helm, the Raiders finished with a record of 5-4, with a rookie quarterback and two losses that could have been victories for the Raiders had a few plays gone differently. The offense averaged nearly an extra touchdown per game under Pierce than they did under McDaniels, averaging 22.9 points per game. This was after the Raiders’ offense failed to score over 20 points one time in the first eight games of the season under McDaniels.

There are many areas in which the Raiders’ switch to Pierce positively impacted the team. His impact went beyond just inside the locker room; Pierce bringing the locker room closer together was the first step in getting better production on the field. The Raiders look to take another step forward as next season approaches. Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again. Sign up RIGHT HERE for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes thrice a week and delivers all our best stories. Please tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.