There’s no doubt that Las Vegas Raiders players are enjoying life with interim head coach Antonio Pierce.
There have been locker room victory cigars, and a general levity and lightness that just wasn’t present during the brief and failed reign of Josh McDaniels.
And on the field there have been two wins in two tries, a 30-6 pasting of the Giants in their first game post-McDaniels that marked the first time in 10 games they’d scored more than 21 points, and a 16-12 field-goal fest against the Jets on Sunday night. Now 5-5, they’re up to second place in the AFC West and a half-game out of a wild card spot.
But at the risk of ticking off Raider Nation, let’s pump the brakes a bit. Just a touch.
It’s true that you can only play who’s on the schedule, but … those wins were against the Giants and Jets, who have six victories between them and aren’t exactly paragons of offensive prowess. The Giants have seemingly been sinking like a stone after last year’s surprising playoff win, and the Jets saw their season go down hard when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles in the first quarter of their first game.
This week, with Las Vegas playing in Miami against the AFC East-leading Dolphins, will provide a far clearer picture of whether the Raiders are actually better under Pierce and new offensive play-caller Bo Hardegree.
Antonio Pierce’s Raiders are 2-0. They’re also about to level up in competition this week. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) (Ethan Miller via Getty Images)
Miami has its own issues, namely that it apparently can’t beat a team with a winning record, but the Dolphins are 4-0 at home and score a league-high 31.6 points a game.
Their losses are to the Bills (in early October, before Buffalo’s wheels started to fall off), the Eagles in Philadelphia and the Chiefs in Germany two weeks.
But they are fast.
“We’re getting our track shoes on,” Pierce said Wednesday. “We’re gonna have our hands full.”
Defensively, containing Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle is obviously job No. 1,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/raiders-first-big-test-under-antonio-pierce-is-almost-here-004709275.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2023-11-16 00:47:09
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