Antonio Pierce has a final chance to make the case he should be the Raiders’ coach

HENDERSON, Nev. – Antonio Pierce has one more chance to strengthen his resume on the grass, as he has stated.

Pierce’s resume is a mixed bag, much like his 4-4 record since replacing Josh McDaniels on Halloween night.

He has injected life into a stale locker room, and the Raiders’ defence has improved this season. On the other hand, Pierce has battled with in-game choices, frequently punting on the opposition team’s side of the field and squandering timeouts.

None of this may matter if owner Mark Davis is already set on chasing the shiny object and making a move for a coach like Jim Harbaugh, who led Michigan to the national championship game against Washington on Monday.

Antonio Pierce has a final chance to make the case he should be the Raiders’ coach

However, if Davis is still considering removing the interim tag from Pierce’s job title, the season finale against the Denver Broncos on Sunday could have extra significance for the coach and his staff.

“At the end of the day, everything will be looked at by wins and losses, and I think that’s fair, and that’s what this business is about,” Pierce told reporters. “However, I believe it is also about what you build in the foundation.” And I think, for the most part, in these eight or nine weeks, we’ve developed a solid foundation as a team and as an organization that we can look back on and say, ‘OK, those are the things that went well, and there are some other things that we can do better.'”

The Raiders’ future isn’t the only question as the season ends.

Las Vegas must decide on the quarterback. Aidan O’Connell has shown flashes of promise but has yet to establish himself as more than a mid-level quarterback. That comes at a particularly awful time for him, given that next year’s draft is widely regarded as the strongest at his position in many years.

Antonio Pierce has a final chance to make the case he should be the Raiders’ coach

With the Raiders mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, guys who haven’t seen much action may get a closer look on Sunday.

So, while the Raiders don’t have much to play for, there are still unanswered issues regarding this club.

“Unless you plan on retiring and not playing in the NFL or coaching in the NFL, this is still on your resume,” he remarked. “You always look at how a team plays and how they’re coached in the season’s last four, five, or six games.” So, it is significant for us; it is still part of the process and review.

Davante Adams has 21 catches for 227 yards and three touchdowns in two of the last three games. Despite having a subpar year by Adams’ standards, he still managed to surpass 1,000 yards for the fifth time in six seasons and is two receptions away from reaching 100 for the fifth time in the same time frame.

Antonio Pierce has a final chance to make the case he should be the Raiders’ coach

Consistency. The Raiders can sometimes look like a playoff club and will put together a string of good performances. They don’t, however, capitalize on such performances, as evidenced by their 23-20 loss to Indianapolis on Sunday. The Raiders had 26 first downs to the Colts’ 16 and outgained them 370 yards to 349, but they couldn’t get out of their way due to costly penalties.

Patrick Graham, the defensive coordinator, could be a possibility for head coaching vacancies this offseason. Las Vegas allows 19.8 yards per game, which ranks sixth in the NFL and is 18 spots more than the Raiders’ 24.6 average last season.

CB Jack Jones has been a key contributor to the defence’s late-season resurgence, but he had two critical errors against the Colts. The most egregious was an offside on the Colts’ missed 50-yard field goal, which would have kept the Raiders within a score. With 3:15 remaining, Indianapolis took a two-possession lead on a 45-yard field goal. Jones was also flagged for pass interference on a third-down deep throw.

SOURCE – (AP)