Raiders: 3 reasons hiring Antonio Pierce was the right move
By Jason Willis
Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders have made the move most have expected all along when they removed the interim tag from head coach Antonio Pierce.
A lifelong Raiders fan, Pierce began the season as the linebackers coach on Josh McDaniels staff. However, when McDaniels was fired on Halloween night, Pierce was given the head job.
It was immediately evident why as he oozed charisma and leadership at his introduction press conference and the locker room immediately rallied around him for wins at home against both the Giants and Jets.
It wasn’t all perfect however as a three-game losing streak headlined by a 3-0 loss to the Vikings at home had many assuming the Raiders would look in another direction.
Still, the locker room rallied around Pierce en route to two of the biggest wins in the team's recent history. First, it was a 63-21 beat down of the rival Chargers on Thursday Night Football. Then the Raiders went to Kansas City on Christmas Day and beat the defending champs on the back of two defensive touchdowns.
The team would narrowly miss the playoffs but a 27-14 win over the Broncos in the final week gave Pierce a 5-4 record despite some shoddy quarterback play and injuries throughout the offense.
With the team now his for the foreseeable future, these are the three biggest reasons he was the right hire in Las Vegas.