Podcast: What Do the Raiders Stand For?

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders (5-8) have a short turnaround this week as they host their AFC West rival the Los Angeles Chargers (5-8) on Thursday Night Football.

There is frustration in Raider Nation, and not just from the fans. Everyone in "The Nation" knows that the Raiders beat themselves on Sunday, and they are chomping at the bit to get back on the field and get back to winning.

Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider tackles what the Raiders stand for and where they are now. Do they need to tank? Is it part of their DNA to stop giving maximum effort from the entire franchise?

You can watch the entire podcast above.

The Raiders have had numerous chances to win and, in many cases, have been unable to close out games in the fourth quarter.

Legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach and my friend Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans once told me: "Sometimes teaching guys how to win is more difficult than teaching them the game. That is the next level, and no matter how much you've won before you got here, you still have to learn how to win here."

I asked Interim Coach Antonio Pierce of the Raiders about the difficulty in teaching teams how to win.

"The strain each and every day," Pierce said. "The good, the bad, the ugly, you just come in with that mentality just go to work. I told our guys this: 'It doesn't matter what you do each and every day. It's not what we're capable of doing and what we're willing to do.' That strain of, and I said it before, that winning stamina is just to walk into the building and forget yesterday. And listen, Sunday was a hard day, I ain't going to lie. It took me 36 hours to forget about that day. It was tough, but then you say: 'What am I looking forward to?' And we talked about that as a team and what you try to do is just keep giving them something to look forward to. And the greatest opportunity that we have in front of us is playing at home in front of our home crowd against a divisional opponent that neither one likes each other, and to get back on the winning track."

The Silver and Black will turn around quickly and host their AFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers, on Thursday, December 14, at 8:15 p.m. EST/5:15 p.m. PST.

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