Ten straight losses for Las Vegas has its head coach fielding uncomfortable questions.
The day following Monday night's 15-9 home loss to Atlanta, Antonio Pierce was asked if he thinks he'll be returning to the Raiders next season.
"I'm under contract," Pierce matter-of-factly answered on Tuesday.
Pierce's first full season in Las Vegas hasn't been ideal, and Monday night's loss exemplified what has been a season-long struggle.
With recent quotes from Raiders owner Mark Davis not exactly breathing confidence into Pierce's tenure, Pierce was faced with tough questions from the media.
"I'm very disappointed, obviously," Davis said last week, via The Athletic. "I want to see progress. There's no excuses. We have injuries and all of those things, but your team has to figure out how to get around those issues. ... [If] there's going to be a finger pointed, it should be at me because, again, I'm the one who's hiring the people who make the decisions on the field. ... At this point, obviously, we're not happy, but you have to go through the season and then we'll re-evaluate."
With Desmond Ridder -- the third starting quarterback for the Raiders this season -- at the helm, the offense was especially stagnant Monday, generating just 249 total yards (80 in the first half) and three giveaways. Crucial mistakes by the special teams, including two blocked punts, a blocked extra point and a punt fielded at the 3-yard line which led to a safety, doomed an otherwise solid effort by the defense.
Las Vegas' offensive woes have been a lasting theme due in large part to the inconsistent play at quarterback, which has resulted in a bottom-five unit in total offense (299.1 yards per game; 28th) and scoring (17.5 points per game; 29th).
Gardner Minshew earned the starting role to begin the season but was benched midway through a Week 5 loss to the Denver Broncos. Aidan O'Connell seemingly injected some life into the offense, but the broken thumb he sustained two weeks later had Minshew back into the fold. Minshew's broken collarbone in Week 12 ended his trying season early, but O'Connell's eventual return to health saw its own setback when he sustained a bone bruise in his knee in Week 14, leading to Ridder starting on Monday night.
That has resulted in the Raiders' 10th consecutive loss, the longest losing streak by a team this season and tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history (13 games in 1962), per NFL Research.
Pierce earned the full-time job after an impressive showing as the Raiders interim head coach in 2023, creating buzz with Raiders players and the fans alike. However, the excitement the 46-year-old former player generated leading up to the 2024 season has seemingly fizzled, and he now could become the NFL's next one-and-done coach -- a consistent theme in the league the past three years running (Frank Reich, 2023; Nathaniel Hackett, 2022; Urban Meyer, 2021).
If there's any good news for Pierce and Co for the remainder of the season, it's the potential return of Aidan O'Connell, who the coach said was "trending upwards to playing" in Sunday's Week 16 game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The final three weeks just might be the difference for Pierce returning in 2025 -- something a contract cannot guarantee -- and avoiding an infamous losing streak for a proud franchise would certainly help that cause.
