Raiders studs & duds from Week 2: Maxx Crosby & Davante Adams take over

 Stud – Antonio Pierce

Antonio Pierce took a lot of criticism this week after punting in Los Angeles territory late in the game. The criticism was well deserved as it felt like a guy who preaches aggression took the safe route against a divisional opponent. The harshest critics of Pierce even went as far as saying that they had lost faith in him as a coach but it's better to ignore people who are that dramatic.

Even if you were to give those drama Queens the time of day, this performance on the road should shut them up for a while, or at least until the start of the Raiders home opener in Week 3. One of the other criticisms against Pierce is that his teams have yet to beat a good quarterback but he now has road victories against two of the best in the league in Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.

It is said that NFL teams take on the personalities of their head coaches and that appears to be the case in Las Vegas. Pierce was a disciplined and hard-nosed middle linebacker over his nine-year career and he has brought that same approach to the Raiders. They have gone from one of the most penalized teams in the NFL under Gruden and Josh McDaniels, to one of the least penalized under.

Pierce has also brought a fighting spirit to the team as they had many chances to roll over and accept defeat but chose to keep fighting instead. Sometimes effort and fight are enough to be the difference in a tight football game and that was the case against Baltimore. The arrow for Pierce is definitely trending up after such a tough win against a great opponent.