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Since taking over as interim head coach, Antonio Pierce has preached toughness, physicality and violence. That’s exactly what the Las Vegas Raiders put on full display in what could be Pierce’s final appearance leading the team on the sidelines.
Las Vegas closed the regular season with a, 27-14, win over Denver Sunday, Jan. 7 from Allegiant Stadium. That gives the Raiders the season sweep of their AFC West rival while also extending their win streak to nine straight games over the Broncos.
“I was having fun as the linebackers coach,” Pierce said. “That was fun, right? But it's been very cool being the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.”
Closing the year with a win, Las Vegas improves to 8-9 on the season including a 5-4 finish under Pierce. Four of those five wins came inside Allegiant Stadium as part of a 6-3 overall home record.
For weeks, there has been an outpouring of support in favor of hiring Pierce full-time as head coach of the Raiders. Owner Mark Davis will be in a similar position that he was in three years ago when then-interim head coach Rich Bisaccia was in the same seat.
Several times throughout the 13-point win Sunday, fans broke out into “AP” chants. Following the game, Pierce spent a moment interacting with the Raider Nation faithful before heading for the tunnel for what could be a final time.
“I thought I needed to take a moment to address the fans,” he said. “I think they’ve been very supportive since I’ve taken over as interim head coach. They were loud each and every home game.
“To walk out and see the Black Hole and those guys just getting after it, I just wanted to love them up. Because listen, what if I’m not here next year? I didn’t want to let that go by.”
In a shining finale performance, the Las Vegas defense played against former Raider quarterback Jarrett Stidham, now starting for Denver. Stidham struggled the majority of the first quarter, going 1-for-5 for five yards before completing his second pass of the game.
Early in the second quarter he’d throw his first touchdown of the game to tie the game at seven apiece. Aside from that, the middle part of the game and a healthy chunk of the remainder of it belonged to the defense.
Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby secured a sack in the second quarter marking his 89th tackle of the season, good for the most all-time in franchise history on the defensive line. He’d register another half sack, two tackles and two tackles for loss.
As a team, the Raiders racked up five total sacks during the game.
The secondary saved touchdowns, perhaps the biggest was a pass breakup by defensive back Jack Jones down the middle of the field on what would’ve been a sure-fire touchdown. At the time, the defensive highlight preserved a 10-point lead for Las Vegas.
The icing on the cake came in the form of a late fourth quarter interception by safety Tre’von Moehrig.
“[The team] really bought into it this last week of the season,” Pierce said. “People were making business decisions about if they were going to play football for 60 minutes. Really proud of our guys on that last drive offensively [in] what they were able to do and then defensively to finish the game.”
Rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell made his ninth straight start but was making his first against the Broncos. He’d finished with 244 yards on 20-of-31 passing with two touchdowns in his final showing of year one.
The team’s first scoring drive of the day was a five-yard run by receiver Jakobi Meyers. The original play was designed to give him a chance to take a shot at the end zone with his arm as a passer.
Meyers would later catch a touchdown pass from O’Connell to cap his two-touchdown day with 61 yards on three receptions.
“I thought we came out and brought an intensity from the first quarter,” O’Connell said. “Defense helped us out, guys on offense made plays. It was a fun game, super fun to be a part of.”
Receiver Davante Adams hauled in a 17-yard reception about midway through the second quarter to give him 100 catches on the year for a fourth straight year. That stretch ties the second-longest streak in NFL history.
Adams recorded five catches for 46 yards and a touchdown.
O’Connell suffered an injury in the third quarter to the index finger of his throwing hand. Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo entered in relief but soon after the Purdue product would return to action.
“I thought tonight was really telling,” Pierce said. “He battled some injuries, you saw him leave, go to the locker room. I looked at him, wasn’t quite sure if he was going to battle through it [but] I’ve said it before, he’s a really tough individual, very mature. He’s growing in front of our eyes.”
Not only did O’Connell return to the game, he returned to put the game on ice. On the Raiders final drive of the game, he threw for a new set of downs three different times to gradually drain the clock.
The final first down of the drive was picked up by running back Zamir White, who rushed for 100-plus yards for the second time in three weeks. His final tally was 112 yards on a career-high 25 carries.
Since sliding into the starting spot in Week 15, White entered the game with the third-most yards from scrimmage among all running backs just behind San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey and Los Angeles’ Kyren Williams.
White has started the last three weeks in absence of last year’s leading rusher Josh Jacobs who ended the year battling a quad injury. After the first week, Pierce had made it clear that White had done enough to earn at least a share of the workload.
In four games as the starter, White averaged close to 100 yards per game on just over 20 touches a game.