It seems to be universally accepted that the Raiders are not good this season, but head coach Antonio Pierce called them “the worst team in football” during a press conference.
At 2-9, the Raiders are tied with the Giants and Jaguars for the worst record in the NFL, so it isn’t too much of a surprise to hear Vegas referred to as the worst team.
What is surprising is when it’s coming from the team’s own head coach.
Pierce was discussing trying to change the narrative about the team ahead of their Black Friday game against the Chiefs on Prime Video.
“Let’s call a spade a spade, the best team in football against the worst team in football,” Pierce said on Wednesday. “Let’s change the narrative. Let’s go out there and make it a dogfight, let’s make it ugly, let’s make it scrappy.
“It’s Black Friday, let’s create a little chaos, let’s get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality. Let it loose.”
The Raiders will have a tall task with trying to topple the 10-1 Chiefs the day after Thanksgiving.
They will have Aidan O’Connell under center for the game on Friday and his return comes in the nick of time after Gardner Minshew went down for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone.
“We feel good about Aidan. He’s been dialed in,” Pierce said, per Pro Football Talk. “Obviously throughout this time he’s been on IR, he’s been in all the meetings; he’s been very encouraging on the sideline. He has that laser eye focus right now. Great opportunity for him.”
O’Connell had usurped Minshew for the starter job in Week 6, but he went down with a broken thumb in Week 7.
“He carried himself like a starter. He carried himself like a starter even when he was on IR. He did that when he was a backup,” Pierce said. “He did a great job of being engaged with the players, engaged on the sideline, in meeting rooms. He’s the one speaking up, talking. You can just look at his eyes; you look at his demeanor.”
