Cameras Catch Raiders’ Mark Davis Apparently Criticizing Coach
That did not last long. Three weeks into the tenure of interim head coach Antonio Pierce, and it appears that flighty Raiders owner Mark Davis has, once again, been caught on camera with a less-than-flattering criticism of his coach. We were used to that kind of thing under coach Josh McDaniels, who was fired by Las Vegas three weeks ago. It’s new for Pierce.
With 7:40 to play in the Raiders’ Week 11 loss to Miami on Sunday, the team had the ball at the Dolphins’ 31-yard line, with a fourth-and-3 situation. The Dolphins led, 20-13, so the Raiders could have attempted a 48-yard field goal that would have given them a chance to win the game with a touchdown. Instead, they went for it, and failed.
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When cameras showed Davis apparently angrily saying, to no one in particular, “Why the f*** didn’t he take the three?” it was interpreted that Davis was criticizing Pierce for not making it a 20-16 game. But he could have been (and this is more likely, logically) talking about not taking the three yards.
Remember, the play that the Raiders ran in that situation was a deep throw from rookie Aidan O’Connell to Jakobi Meyers down the left sideline. It was a bold call, but also a foolish one when the team do desperately needed a first down—so desperately needed three. As in, yards.
As for Antonio Pierce, he does have one backer in Raiders legend Howie Long, who told Kay Adams of the “Up and Adams” show that he thinks Pierce has a shot at keeping the Raiders job.
