The Las Vegas Raiders and their fan base may owe Antonio Pierce an apology. Yes, things were terrible under his leadership, as the Raiders lost 10 straight games and only beat a slew of backup quarterbacks to finish with a 4-13 record in his lone campaign at the helm.
But things are much, much worse under Pete Carroll during the 2025 NFL season. This is not to say that keeping Pierce would have been the right move, or that things would be much better, but he was made to be the fall guy for what is clearly an organizational failure to get things right in Las Vegas.
Pierce has also been no friend of Raider Nation since his departure, often using his platform on CBS Sports' NFL Today+ to bash his former team and take victory laps around them for their continued struggles after his absence. In a way, it seems like he feels that this absolves him of blame.
Antonio Pierce didn't hold back about Raiders' bleak future
On Sunday, even before Week 13's beatdown suffered against the Los Angeles Chargers, Pierce once again spoke on his show about the state of things in Las Vegas. When asked about his confidence level that good things are going to happen soon for the Raiders, Pierce unleashed.
"What's soon? We just fired our offensive coordinator. I was there last year with the Raiders; we didn't have a good offense. They still don't have a good offense. Fan base is upset," Pierce said. "You talkin' about offseasons? Might need decades to fix this bad boy coming up. I'm just saying. One and done, one and done, one and done. Is there another coach gone? Is there another coordinator? Listen, there's gonna be something I talk about a little later where everybody's pointing the finger. At some point, the thumb points back."
This is a brutal dose of reality for fans. Obviously, things always feel like they are about to turn a corner, but to Pierce's point, they haven't in the last two decades. It might be careless to think that the team is so close to greener pastures when the grass has been dead for over 20 years.
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It also seems like Pierce is pointing the finger at owner Mark Davis with his comments, especially at the end. After being fired, Pierce likely harbors some ill will toward Davis, and he may not be wrong to hold him accountable for the organization's persistent shortcomings.
With Carroll at the helm, the Raiders have steadily gotten worse throughout the year. His refusal to plan for the future and play the team's younger players in a lost season has given the fan base nothing to look forward to, either. Things are as bleak in Las Vegas as they have ever been.
Pierce's words were incredibly harsh, but they may very well be the truth. It has been decades since the Raiders were a relevant team in the NFL, and it may be decades until they are again. But that doesn't mean the fan base can't still have some hope that they turn things around. Eventually.