The Raiders were easily defeated by the Andy Dalton-led Panthers on Sunday. In his post-game press conference, head coach Antonio Pierce suggested that changes to the squad could be made in the near future in response to his team’s performances.

“As the game progressed… I think there were definitely a number of individuals who were making business decisions,” Pierce said this, but wouldn’t name specific players (via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez). “And we will continue to make business decisions in the future.”

The Panthers racked up 437 yards of offense en route to a 36-22 victory. Dalton — inserted into the starting lineup in place of the struggling Bryce Jong – became the first quarterback in 2024 to record at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns in a game. Pierce’s comments suggest that notable changes could be coming to at least the depth chart at certain positions in the near future.

The 2024 midseason brought a number of changes, with the Chargers’ former general manager Tom Telesco is hired as the new GM of Vegas. Owner Mark Davis previously expressed regret for not keeping Rich Bisaccia as head coach after clinching the title at the end of the 2021 season. Pierce, on the other hand, had the interim tag removed this spring, allowing him to continue after his stint ended last year. That makes 2024 his first full season as an NFL head coach.

The 45-year-old will be tasked with overseeing the development of the Raiders, a team that has faced questions, particularly at the quarterback position. Gardner Minshew won a summer competition for the role of starter about Aidan O’Connell after the team actively looked to move up the draft board to add a signal-caller. Both Minshew and O’Connell are under contract through 2025, but issues on offense will undoubtedly lead to continued speculation about a move at the position in the spring.

On defense, the Raiders are near the bottom of the pack in a number of categories. Improvement on that side of the ball will be a goal going forward, though the team’s edge rush group is underutilized due to the absence of Malcolm KoonceIt will be interesting to see how the coaching staff reacts to Sunday’s loss after it dropped the Raiders to 1-2 this year.