It’s been a tale of two teams for the Las Vegas Raiders this season.
The team looked erratic and uninspired under Josh McDaniels, but they’ve fought hard and have been quite impressive ever since they appointed Antonio Pierce as the interim head coach.
The eye test has been quite good in Sin City over the past two months or so, and you can tell that there’s a different mindset and intensity from top to bottom.
However, the stats are even more telling.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Raiders have led the NFL in points allowed (15.3), defensive touchdowns (4), and penalties (24).
That is pretty crazy. But also matches what it’s looked like on the field. https://t.co/NPrXP0bd2i
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2023
They also rank tied-fifth in sacks (24,0) and tied-sixth in takeaways (6).
Pierce has already done more than enough to get the job full-time.
You can tell he’s earned the praise, love, and respect from his players, and they would run through a brick wall for him and vice versa.
He’s instilled that physical, hard-nosed philosophy and approach he used during his playing days in the locker room, and the Raiders finally look like a team that could make a deep postseason run once they finally settle their troubling quarterback situation.
Hopefully, this won’t be the same situation from the previous regime with Rich Bisaccia, who turned the Raiders’ campaign around late in the season, yet didn’t get the job.
They cannot afford to make the same mistake, especially considering the fact that other teams could look to steal him away from the Raiders.
The post Insider Notes How Antonio Pierce Has Statistically Impacted Raiders appeared first on The Cold Wire.