Raiders studs & duds from Week 3: Antonio Pierce on notice

Dud: Antonio Pierce

There is something maddening about how things have gone for the Raiders since Antonio Pierce took over as head coach. They have some impressive wins under their belt including road victories over Kansas City and Baltimore but have some notable duds like the home losses to Minnesota and now Carolina.

For some reason, the same team that is able to go into hostile environments and bully Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes shrinks at home against Nick Mullens, Josh Dobbs, and a 36-year-old Andy Dalton. Pierce said ahead of the game that the Raiders offense looked sharp and that he was wary of a letdown after the emotional high of the Baltimore win but that is exactly what happened. The Raiders defense gave up a touchdown on the opening Carolina drive and was bullied all over the field by a team they should have dominated.

When the talent is in favor of one team but the result doesn’t go their way, that usually comes down to two things, coaching and effort but both are related. Teams like the Chiefs and Steelers with elite head coaches always play hard and they come into every game with the right effort and intensity. Poorly coached teams show up expecting to win and act as if they are entitled to a victory rather than working for it and that’s exactly what the Raiders did on Sunday.

We still think that Pierce is the right man for this job and he will have the full season to prove it at the very least but there is plenty of cause for concern. For every step forward this team takes, they take 10 steps back and Pierce has to end that maddening pattern. Pierce talked a lot about “business decisions” after the game but he needs to things back on track before Mark Davis has to make a business decision about his future as head coach of the Raiders.