Raiders IOL JPJ from the locker room after the Panthers

Yes, this loss was really terrible.

In my five years covering this team, I have never seen a Raiders team this bad as a whole.

With one of the best home crowds for Raider Nation in Allegiant Stadium history, I attended every game, the atmosphere that coach Antonio Pierce had called for was squandered, and their energy quickly turned to a chorus of boos, reigning from the seats, as the Panthers dominated.

On a day that should have ended with a celebration of success as the Raiders exercised the demons of playing at their opponent’s level, the home team found themselves wallowing in mediocrity.

There are fourteen games left, but the Raiders don’t have time to fix the problems.

After the game, coach Antonio Pierce spoke to the media and here is a transcript of what he said:

ANTONIO PIERCE: No, it was just mediocre. Not good enough. Obviously the crowd was ready. I appreciate the crowd, everybody came out, they did their part. We didn’t. The scheme wasn’t good enough. The play design wasn’t good enough today. What we thought was going to work didn’t work and on the grass, we didn’t execute and we didn’t put in the effort that we’ve put in the previous games.

1. Q: Antonio, you said you wanted to be a team that controlled the line of scrimmage and on both sides of the line of scrimmage today, that doesn’t seem to be the case. ANTONIO PIERCE: We got our asses kicked.

Q. Yes, any reason? What do you think is the main reason for all this?

ANTONIO PIERCE: We got our butts kicked. We had to put on pads, I don’t know, we had to get on the sled. It’s the same group that, for the most part, comes back with the same technique, the same coaches, it’s not a different scheme, so obviously we have to coach better and be tougher on the guys and the guys have to take some tough coaching because they didn’t see that on either side of the ball. We had an opportunity to run the ball and we didn’t. We didn’t do it at all. We tried and tried and tried and I would have booed us too, offensively, defensively we didn’t do a good enough job up front, not good enough.

Q. Coach, I know you’re disappointed with the performance. How would you rate your concern with the team’s effort? It seems like this is one of the first games under your leadership where the team didn’t seem to be up to par tonight.

ANTONIO PIERCE: No, it’s not. I think the game has evolved, it’s not the team that’s made the decisions. I think some individuals have made business decisions and we’ll make business decisions in the future as well.

Q. Antonio, last week there was talk about a lack of respect happening domestically because of the points gap and we heard it from the players, but basically, you’re asking people to believe in themselves and you’re letting them down a little bit today. So, you know, where does that lie? You have to earn that. That belief and that trust has to be earned on the field.

ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, I think the one thing I’ve always talked to you guys about is consistency. We’re in this situation and that’s not what we’re fighting for and that’s not what we’re striving for. It showed today and if I could have said I saw it coming, I would have told you, but I didn’t see it coming and inconsistent play is something we have to work on constantly.

Q. It seems like, I know you mentioned the trench bus in the secondary defense, that there were a lot of Panthers getting open near the middle of the field and having a lot of space to run. That’s not something we’ve really seen a lot of from this defense. Can you explain those breakdowns?

ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, I mean, we played a lot of men in this game and there’s a zone and we want tighter coverage and obviously, look, you’ve got to give them credit, they came out here and did their best and we didn’t.

Q. AP, this offense, other than a quarter and a half in Baltimore, has struggled a bit. What do you think is the problem or is it something you have to watch on video?

ANTONIO PIERCE: No, just PNT and first and ten. Next down is probably second and eight, second and nine most of the time. If you can’t win on first downs, teams are going to continue to attack us and have their whole third down arsenal and that’s really what you see. So until we can do better, either run the ball or be more productive, let’s go ahead and make positive plays on first and second down. It’s not going to be good but we’re going to – we’ve got to work on it, it’s a long season, it’s week three. We’re going to go to the lab and we’ve got to really work on it.

Q. You brought in Aidan O’Connell late in the game. Is that an option that could be considered in the future?

ANTONIO PIERCE: I think the game was out of control and, you know, we had two quarterbacks fighting, we let the other guy go out there and see what he can do for a little while.

Q. Coach, what are the positive points you take away from –

ANTONIO PIERCE: Nothing.

Q. — Today’s match. Nothing?

ANTONIO PIERCE: Nothing. Except the crowd. Thank you Raider Nation, (inaudible) sorry we didn’t come do our part.

Q: I’ve seen Jackson Powers-Johnson play a little bit at right guard. Is that because Dylan hurt his foot this week, or is it just…

ANTONIO PIERCE: That was the plan. Nothing with Dylan. Dylan played very well for us. That’s just the team we decided to put him on.

Q. I had a couple of questions. It looks like Marcus Epps suffered a leg injury at the end of the game, do you have any updates on his condition?

ANTONIO PIERCE: I just know it’s a knee problem. We would need to do a more thorough evaluation of that problem.

Q. Secondly, I know you’ve mentioned all week and even now that you want to establish the race this week, but is there a certain point where you have to – I don’t mean abandon the race, but go with a pass-first approach if it’s just not working?

ANTONIO PIERCE: We have to do something about this. If it’s to open up the run, I mean, the scheme, the players, the coaching. I mean, I’ve said it before, I’m not going to sit here and keep watching this. It’s just not good enough. 3.4, two yards last week. That’s not us. That’s not our identity. That’s not what I want it to look like. That’s not what our team is going to be and we have to work on that.

Q. What did you see in the trenches in terms of defense? Were you satisfied with the efforts made in terms of defense in the trenches?

NTONIO PIERCE: No. I think today was a bad day for all of us. Bad day for the Raiders.

Q. One more thing, as far as the attack through Gardner, what would you say you see of the attack as far as Gardner goes from the beginning?

ANTONIO PIERCE: It looked like everything was going well. It started with the run game, the pass game wasn’t there. I mean, look, obviously, you look, your eyes go to different places, but. We had a chance, I mean, there were some things that we wanted to do that showed up, it was just there, you don’t see it for 10 or 12 minutes or another quarter or even at all, so it wasn’t a good performance by us at all today. Thanks, guys.

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