Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell got his first win as a starter and Antonio Pierce got his first win as interim head coach on Sunday, and afterward O’Connell credited Pierce for the leadership he showed since being installed as head coach during the week.
“He did a great job,” O’Connell said of Pierce. “It was a hard situation, a short week, an unfortunate situation that he took full advantage of. He’s a guy with strong convictions and you can feel his intensity when he talks. Guys believe in him and we just, all around, offense, defense, special teams, did a really good job executing.”
The firing of Josh McDaniels seems to have fired up the Raiders’ players. They’re excited to play for Pierce, who developed a reputation during his playing days as a well-respected team leader and seems to be the same way as a coach.
Of course, it helped that the Raiders were playing against an awful Giants team that was down to its third-string quarterback. The Raiders’ schedule gets a whole lot tougher the rest of he way, with five games remaining against teams with winning records, and Pierce and O’Connell have their work cut out for them.