Antonio Pierce slams players after Raiders lose to Panthers: ‘Some made business decisions’
After losing to the Carolina Panthers, 36-22, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce didn’t hold back during the postgame press conference and ripped the players’ effort.
Despite their best efforts, the Las Vegas Raiders can’t help but have a roller coaster of a year. In Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season, they lost to their division rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, 22-10. Then in Week 2, the Raiders upset the Baltimore Ravens 26-23. But in Week 3, the Raiders lost to the worst team in the NFL, the Carolina Panthers, 36-22.
It was a devastating defeat for the Raiders, who were favored heading into this game. They were held scoreless in the second and third quarter, tight end Brock Bowers and star receiver Davante Adams were ineffective and somehow the Raiders’ defense made the Panthers’ offense look competent. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ first win of the season.
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was livid after today’s loss and made sure to voice it in the post-game press conference.
Pierce was not pleased with the players’ effort on the field and alluded to possible cuts or changes to the roster after the loss.
“I think there were definitely some individuals who made business decisions, and we’ll make business decisions going forward as well,” Pierce told the media.
As far as positive takeaways from the game, according to Pierce there was “nothing.” Pierce was too upset with the team to go into further details about the game, but he did give the Panthers their respect.
“Give credit to them [the Panthers],” he said. “They put their best foot forward. We didn’t.”
The Panthers did come out of the gate a different team. Once they scored, it was hard for the Raiders to comeback and take the lead. The Panthers finished the game with 437 total yards (306 passing yards and 131 rushing yards), 36:02 time of possession, zero turnovers with an interception and a sack on the defensive side of the ball.
Following Pierce’s statements at the podium, ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez was able to meet with Adams and asked him what he made of Pierce’s “business decisions” statement. Gutierrez shared Adams’ response in the following X post.
Adams has already been accused of being “unhappy” with the organization, which resulted in a public statement from Adams claiming he never said that. Regardless, Pierce’s comments have ruffled some weathers. Now we’ll have to see if the silver and black can rise to the occasion or fall back into the cycle of drama they have yet to break.
After recording his first win as a Las Vegas Raider with an impressive upset over the Baltimore Ravens, it’s once again time to take a look at the play of Gardner Minshew. Through two weeks, Minshew leads the NFL in both completions and completion percentage, and ranks second in total passing yardage. It’s worth noting that volume-based passing numbers are down across the league, but Minshew still deserves credit for rising above his contemporary competition in these categories thus far.
