Following an extremely disappointing Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Las Vegas Raiders bounced back with a huge 20-15 win over the Cleveland Browns. Head coach Antonio Pierce got his team focused and locked in to improve their record to 2-2.
It was an impressive feat not only because of the nature of their loss but also because of what followed. In his postgame press conference, Pierce commented that he felt some Raiders players made ‘business decisions’ down the stretch of that game. However, following the win over the Browns, Pierce apologized for that.
Pierce would acknowledge that a lot of the extra distractions and attention surrounding the Raiders this past week started because of himself and his comments, but praised the team for going to work and not letting that bring them down, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN:
“There was a lot of hoopla, and stuff,” Pierce said Sunday. “Probably started with me, with my comments, and I apologize for that. Don’t want to be a distraction that way but … we just went to work each and every day. Things came out throughout the week and guys just never flinched [or] blinked.”
It certainly says a lot about the makeup of this team that they didn’t fracture but rather stayed together and grew even closer within that fire. As Pierce noted, the Raiders went to work every day, and the end result was a victory despite being without their best players on each side of the ball, Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby.
It was noticed that cornerback Jack Jones, the player some believe Pierce’s comments were aimed at, sat out the first quarter of Sunday’s game and Pierce acknowledged that was a decision he made. And for his part, Jones showed no anger or ill will towards the Raiders coach after the contest.
The most important thing is that the Raiders were able to pick up a much-needed victory and Pierce and the rest of the team should be able to put this behind them and continue on their quest to make a postseason run.
Gardner Minshew Remains Raiders Starting QB Going Forward
Following that loss to the Panthers, some wondered if the Raiders might make a change at the quarterback position to help spark the offense. But head coach Antonio Pierce chose to stick with Gardner Minshew, and that will remain the case going forward.
Aidan O’Connell looked good when coming in late in that Panthers loss, but reportedly, a change was never even considered. Obviously, the Raiders bounced back with a win over the Browns, although the offense was powered on the ground. Minshew threw for only 130 yards but didn’t turn the ball over in the victory.
