A majority of Las Vegas Raiders fans wanted them to keep Antonio Pierce as their full-time head coach after he took over for Josh McDaniels on an interim basis last season.

Pierce led the Raiders to a 5-4 record in nine games. The culture had changed immensely after McDaniels’ brief and disastrous stint in Vegas.

Despite not even having experience as a coordinator in the NFL, owner Mark Davis opted to hire Pierce full-time.

Fast forward a few months, this could very well look like a big mistake by Davis.

The Raiders headed into Denver on Sunday to take on the division rival Broncos. This came after a mediocre first four games in which the Raiders showed well in a win over the Baltimore Ravens. That win was immediately followed by an ugly home loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers.

After a rebound last week against Cleveland. On Sunday, the Raiders were up to their old tricks again. They fell on the road by a score of 34-18 after taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. That included a 100-yard Patrick Surtain II interception return for a touchdown to Gardner Minshew.

Just terrible decision making from Minshew on that play. The Raiders had a chance to make it a two-touchdown game. Instead, things had suddenly come to a standstill.

“We just have to do better and put together complete games,” Minshew told reporters after the game.

Minshew would lead the Raiders to four three-and-outs in five possessions before throwing an interception on his final play of the game. He was eventually replaced by Aidan O’Connell under center.

Defensively, the Raiders allowed Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix to complete 19 of 27 passes with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

All of this happens amid major drama behind the scenes of Sin City. That includes star wide receiver Davante Adams who has likely played his last game with the Silver and Black. Adams, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury, told the Raiders’ top brass last week that he prefers a trade. They are working with other teams to do just that before the November 5 NFL trade deadline.

Las Vegas Raiders’ Antonio Pierce under fire after latest loss

It was in Week 3 that the Raiders were riding high after an improbable win over reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

They were ready for their home opener against a Carolina Panthers squad that had lost 17 of 19 going into the 2023 season.

What followed was a disaster of epic proportions. Vegas fell to its home crowd with a score of 36-22. At that point, the honeymoon between Pierce and the Raiders seemed to be over. His post-match comments added another layer.

“I think there were definitely some individuals making business decisions. And we will continue to make business decisions going forward,” Pierce told reporters at the time.

It is not yet known if these comments led to the aforementioned drama between Adams and the Raiders. But it’s not that hard to read between the lines, given the timeline of events in Southern Nevada.

As for Sunday’s humiliating effort against the Broncos, Pierce talked about the turnover as a big part of their loss.

“We knew there were going to be some plays in the game that weren’t going to go our way. Obviously that happened,” Pierce told reporters after the game via the Raiders’ official website. “At the end of the day we came back here at half time, it was a 10-13 game. We had to keep playing and we just didn’t make enough action. Obviously penalties and turnovers killed us.”

In addition to Minshew throwing two interceptions, O’Connell also had a pick of his own. Vegas turned the ball over three times and the Broncos played flawless football. Denver turned those three turnovers into 14 points, including the Surtain pick six. Committing 11 penalties didn’t help either and was as important for the coaching as it was for the players.

Where do Antonio Pierce and the Raiders go from here?

It’s hard to say. The team is 2-3 this season and does not appear to be of playoff caliber.

Vegas will now have to compete against the likes of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals over the next month. Things can certainly snowball in this regard. When you add in the off-field drama, you really have to wonder if Pierce has lost his team. It’s crazy to think about after just 14 games as coach of the Raiders.

It’s too early to talk about Pierce being done. But it looks like he’s in over his head right now.

In addition to the drama and actions of the Raiders, Pierce has also been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately.

Pierce was given an eight-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA for violations while he was an assistant coach for Arizona State. The punishment comes after an investigation found Pierce committed recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In reaching an eight-year show-cause order for Pierce, the panel highlighted his role as a leader in orchestrating the recruiting violations,” the NCAA report said, via ESPN.

The punishment includes a one-year suspension if Pierce is recruited by an NCAA team before October 2032.

This will not affect Pierce’s standing in Vegas. Rather, it’s yet another example of bad headlines surrounding Pierce at almost every turn.

It’s now up to Pierce to rally his players with a tough series of games ahead. Whether he has that ability remains to be seen.