Following Bye Week, Raiders to Lean on Lessons Learned

The Las Vegas Raiders have had a unique season with many teachable moments. They look to use those lessons after their bye week to help them improve.

The Las Vegas Raiders got a hot start under Interim Coach Antonio Pierce, winning their first two games. The first of those two games came against the team Pierce won a Super Bowl with, the New York Giants.

The Silver and Black couldn't have had a better start. Then they left the friendly confines of Allegiant Stadium to face the Miami Dolphins for a defeat, and a home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs followed that. 

After starting 2-0 under Pierce, Las Vegas has lost its last two games.

Just as he did with the first two games that were victories, Pierce plans to learn from his mistakes and wants the team to do the same.

"It doesn't matter if we start off 0-2 and then won the last two," Pierce said. "Each and every week is going to be a challenge. Obviously, the last few teams were very dynamic and explosive.

"We're talking about world champions here. The team has been dominating and has a good quarterback, good coach, and a well-coached team."

Pierce shared some of the lessons he's learned through his first four games in charge of the Raiders. 

"What lessons do I take from it?" Pierce asked. "I don't take anything for granted. I don't take the wins for granted and don't take the losses. We treat them the same way.

"I learned, obviously, AP [Antonio Pierce] is going to get better, Bo [Hardegree] will get better, Aidan [O'Connell] will get better, Maxx [Crosby], Patrick Graham. We're all going to get better. 

"At the end of the day, whenever this is over, and how it ends and the season is over, we'll look back and say: 'OK, these are things we have to work on going forward.'

"I think, for me personally, it's just sitting back and looking at how the game is managed. Is it the idea is right? Is where we're practicing showing up on the game field? And that's my job, to get that better."

It was clear before the season that this would be a year of growth, as it was only Coach Josh McDaniels' second year at the helm. A mid-season coaching change has turned this into a season of growth and transition for the Raiders, on and off the field. 

The Silver and Black will return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, December 10, at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST.

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