Raiders Preparing for First Road Game Under Pierce

The Las Vegas Raiders decided to make fundamental changes to their coaching staff at a critical point in their season.

Interim Coach Antonio Pierce took over a team needing direction and has done an admirable job in his first two games.

Those two games, however, were at home in Las Vegas. The Silver and Black now travel to the other side of the country to face one of the best teams in the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

"We were fortunate that my first two games were at home," Pierce said. "Now we're on the road, and you've got to have a different mentality. It's not going to be pretty at times, probably.

"I think last week it was good to see us go through adversity. But this [Dolphins team] is a really good football team. I just think about their losses. Two of them were to the two teams that played in the Super Bowl.

"So, they're right there with the elite teams, and it'll be a good challenge for us in every aspect of the game to see how we match up against teams like that."

With playing in a different time zone, Coach Pierce and the Raiders are doing some things differently.

"Yeah, there are a few [things done differently]," Pierce said. "We're not in Miami. I mean, we were scheduled to be in Miami, and we changed that. Our days start earlier. We started at 6:30 this morning. We're practicing at 10:50, 10:40 and 10 a.m. this week, which is around the time we'll be playing on Sunday.

"About 48 hours before we play, on Friday, we'll be on the grass practicing; guys will be up, so hopefully, their bodies adjust to the change. Other than that, we're not really even talking about it.

"Like I told them, it doesn't matter where the game is played, we're going to have to go play it. We can use that as an excuse, but we're not.

"I'm not being a homer, but when I was with the Giants, we won 11 straight games on the road. We didn't even talk about it. We took our show on the road. Certain things travel, good defense, and the running game. Just take it with you, pack it up."

The Raiders have displayed a good run defense and a powerful rushing attack the last two weeks.

Pierce said Las Vegas plans on continuing to do both things successfully.

"It's in the suitcase, it's packed up, it's ready to go," Pierce said.

Las Vegas has a chance to put itself right back in the playoff conversation with a victory over one of the better teams in the NFL. A win in Miami would do wonders for the Raiders' playoff chances and Pierce's chances of the Raiders removing the word interim from his title.

The Silver and Black will head out on the road to South Beach to take on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.

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