Two years ago, Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia led the team to the playoffs, navigating a sea of distractions punctuated by the Jon Gruden fiasco and the Henry Ruggs DUI that killed a young woman and her dog. The Raiders nearly beat the Bengals in the wild-card round. It wasn’t enough to get Bisaccia to get a chance to be the full-time coach for 2022.
Now, Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce is getting it done. The team put 63 points on the board against the Chargers. They beat the Chiefs in their own building on Christmas Day, without Josh Jacobs and with literally no passing game after the first quarter.
Why not give Pierce a chance, for a year or two? He’s done a great job after being thrown into the position on the fly. Give him a full year to come up with a plan and to execute it. Give him another year to build some continuity.
It wasn’t smart to not give Bisaccia a chance, given what happened with Josh McDaniels. Why would owner Mark Davis want to risk going two for two when it comes to having the right guy as the interim coach and getting rid of him? It would put even more pressure on the next coach to deliver.
Pierce could still take the Raiders to the playoffs. If the Chiefs lose to the Bengals and Chargers and if the Raiders beat the Colts and the Broncos, the Raiders will win the division.
The fact that the Raiders even have a chance to pull it off entering Week 17 is reason enough to keep Pierce around for a year, or two. The Raiders could do a lot worse. For most seasons since 2002, they have.
