The Las Vegas Raiders snapped their six-game losing streak to the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, coming away with a 20-14 win powered by a dominant defensive effort at Arrowhead Stadium.
Afterward, interim Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was feeling very confident.
“I think the one thing everybody is seeing with this Raider team is a group that’s playing together, having fun with one another, loving one another, playing with a bigger purpose, a will to win, a fight to win and not ever giving up,” Pierce said, via Grant Gordon of NFL media.
If Las Vegas continues playing like this, Pierce may end up shedding the “interim” tag after long.
The Raiders dropped 63 points in a 42-point win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15, and as a follow-up act, they held Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to just 308 total yards on the road.
“That was one of our mantras, by any means necessary,” Pierce said. “We knew it was going to be a gritty game. It wasn’t going to be a high-score (game), we didn’t want it to be a high-scoring game.”
And it certainly wasn’t. As a matter of fact, the Raiders put forth a rather pitiful offensive effort themselves, managing just 205 yards of offense. However, they scored a pair of defensive touchdowns in the second quarter to fuel their victory.
“We talked about it all week. Ill intent. Violence. Physically. Pain. Enough is enough,” added Pierce. “That was displayed just right there.”
Pierce took over as Las Vegas’ coach on Oct. 31 after owner Mark Davis fired Josh McDaniels (as well as general manager Dave Ziegler).
Since then, the Raiders have gone 4-3 and are allowing just 15.3 points per game. They have only allowed over 20 points twice, which came against the Chargers last week and when they fell to the Chiefs by a score of 31-17 in Las Vegas back on Nov. 26.
The Raiders are now 7-8 and still have slim playoff hopes with just two games remaining. They will take on the Indianapolis Colts next weekend before battling the Denver Broncos to wrap up the regular season on Jan. 7.
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