Antonio Pierce made it clear he had no intention of his team giving anything less than everything they had in the season finale. Even with nothing to play for but pride.
They never trailed in the game. They scored first and never looked back.
As the clock ticked away on their 27-14 win over the Broncos, the scene was electric at Allegiant Stadium. The crowd began to chant “AP! AP! AP!” and Pierce gave them love right back on his way off the field.
“I wanted to show them how much I appreciated them. Love ’em up because I may not be here next year.”
Several Raiders veterans said it was like nothing they’ve ever seen before.
“You hear the fans, you hear the crowd and the way they respond to it and it’s clear that he’s changed the culture. Definitely deserves it,” said Davante Adams .
“That’s the first time I’ve seen that. I’ve heard them boo coaches before, but I’ve never heard it like that before.”
Pierce was a shot of adrenaline for a Raiders squad that was lost under previous head coach Josh McDaniels. He was given the last nine games to show what he could do. The fans have seen enough; they want him to keep the job. The players have experienced it firsthand and they all feel the same.
“He changed our team,” said Josh Jacobs. “I know at the end he may not always look like it on the stat sheet, but in the locker room, the mentality, the feel, the love, the joy, he changed all that.”
“He embodies what it means to be a Raider,” Davante Adams added. “He’s got that same swagger, that aura. The way he talks, the way he’s done it, all of the things that represent being a Raider, he’s the guy.”
Adams added that this is the best morale of any team he’s been on, which is saying a lot considering they finished with an 8-9 record and out of the playoffs.
“It’s AP. Him being himself,” said Jack Jones. “He has that ‘it’ factor to bring that out of players, so I just give all the credit to him.”
Jones was picked up midseason and has played under Pierce at every level from high school to college to now in the pros.
But Maxx Crosby has played well no matter who is the head coach. And no one has been more outspoken about wanting Pierce to have the interim label come off than him. Because under Pierce was the first time he saw a coach who can come close to his passion and brought up the rest of the team with him.
“We’ve just built something beautiful in a short period of time and for us we want to keep riding that momentum not start from ground zero again,” said Crosby. “We’ve been doing that s–t for five years and it’s been the same result, so they need to make the right decision and do what we need to do.”
No one really knows at this point if Pierce will be the guy going forward. Especially with the rumors that Mark Davis is making a play to lure Jim Harbaugh away from Michigan and to Las Vegas.
Will this game change anything? Will the chants from the fans? The words of the players? Only Davis knows that now.
