Pierce Explains How the Raiders Overcame the Chiefs…..

The Las Vegas Raiders’ 20-14 upset of the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day was one of the highlights of their 2023 season. That game was a culmination of the hard work Coach Antonio Pierce put in with the team during that week.

The culture he created when he took over midway through the season resonated with players and fans and likely led to owner Mark Davis giving him the full-time job. Now that Pierce is the Raiders’ full-time head coach, he and the Raiders hope to pull off more victories against their biggest rivals. Pierce broke down the preparation for the game and how they were able to pull the upset on the latest episode of defensive end Maxx Crosby’s podcast, The Rush with Maxx Crosby. Coach Antonio Pierce’s intense preparation helped the Las Vegas Raiders upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day.Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports He said he showed the team videos of historical sports moments each day of the week, including UFC fights, Michael Jordan clips, and boxing matches.

“When we get to the end, we have to finish them,” he said regarding the Raiders not being able to seal the deal against the Chiefs in their first match-up. The Raiders led the game 14-0 but eventually lost 31-17.

“We have to put them away. We have to put them away the way we want to put them away. If you go back to that game, we talk about that second quarter, dominating the second quarter defensively. Two touchdowns in seven seconds. They were so hyped I called a timeout just to calm us down.” “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m like, ‘Everybody calm down.’ I got Jack Jones over here; they’re fighting; I’m like, ‘Maxx, everybody stop.’ We called timeout just to slow the pace down because I’m like, ‘We’re going. We’re ready.’” Pierce said the best part of the victory was how the Raiders stopped quarterback Patrick Mahomes from taking over the game in the fourth quarter.

“These guys wouldn’t let go. They were relentless for 60 minutes, and then what we wanted to do is what I call the best play in football; we wanted to go into victory formation.”