The Las Vegas Raiders got their doors blown off by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, drawing the ire of head coach Antonio Pierce in his postgame news conference.
Pierce lamented the effort of his players and told reporters that some made “business decisions” on the field. He also suggested that players who made said decisions put their jobs at risk.
“They didn’t [show up],” Pierce said. “I think as the game went on — I don’t think was the team — I think there were definitely some individuals that made business decisions. And we’ll make business decisions going forward as well.”
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce after Sunday’s loss.
“I think as the game went on — I don’t think it was the team — I think there was definitely some individuals that made business decisions. And we’ll make business decisions going forward, as well.”pic.twitter.com/CPTinIi49J
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 23, 2024
Pierce didn’t name names. And we’re not going to speculate here on the job security of individual players based on Pierce’s allusions. But it’s fair to say that the Raiders as individuals and as a whole put on one of the worst efforts of the NFL season on Sunday.
The Panthers entered Sunday embroiled in turmoil, having scored a single touchdown and a combined 13 points in losses to the Saints and Chargers to open the season. Theirs was the worst offense in football.
They benched quarterback and former No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young in favor of veteran backup Andy Dalton on Monday. In a 36-22 win over the Raiders, Dalton recalled his former Pro Bowl form (last seen with Bengals in 2016) in one of the best passing performances of the young NFL season.
Dalton completed 70% of his passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers against a hapless Raiders defense. It was the first time this season an NFL quarterback has thrown for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a single game. The Panthers produced a 100-yard rusher in Chuba Hubbard (114 yards) and a 100-yard receiver in Diontae Johnson (122 yards, 1 TD).
Yes, they had a new quarterback. But this was the highest-scoring Panthers effort since 2022 and only the second time since the start of the 2023 season that they’ve scored 30-plus points. Dalton was a dramatic improvement over Young, but the Raiders gave little resistance.
The Raiders’ offense wasn’t much better. Las Vegas tacked on 15 meaningless points in the fourth quarter. But the game was over by the time the Panthers took a 33-7 lead early in the fourth. This all happened in a Raiders home game.
“It’s not good enough, obviously,” Pierce said. “The crowd was ready. Appreciate the crowd. Everybody did their part. They showed up. We did not.
“The scheme wasn’t good enough. … What we thought was gonna work didn’t work. On the grass we didn’t execute. Nor did we put up the effort that we have put up in games past. … We got our ass whooped.”
Raiders leaders and Pro Bowlers Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby were both asked their thoughts on Pierce’s “business decisions” comment. Neither chose to speculate on which players Pierce was referencing.
“I feel like, I don’t know — this is tough for me to identify that,” Adams said, per ESPN. “I’m not sure.”
Crosby elaborated more, but likewise stayed out of the fray of naming names.
“I don’t know,” Crosby said. “There’s a lot of things. You’ve got to watch the film. Just wasn’t good enough. Just a bad loss. I mean, s***ty. We didn’t play our best football. …
“We’ve got a lot of people that have to look in the mirror. Everybody’s got to continue getting better. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a wake-up call, you know what I mean? We’ve got to be better.”
A former NFL linebacker, Pierce is in his first full-time season as the Raiders’ head coach after earning the job last season in nine games with an interim tag. He earned the job in part because of his good relationships and ability to connect with players.
Sunday marks a low point in his tenure and the first significant sign of tumult in the locker room since Pierce took over. How he and the Raiders respond moving forward will go a long way in defining his tenure in Las Vegas.
