Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast looks at Christmas Day at Arrowhead, the impact of Antonio Pierce
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00:00 Hey everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:07 Raiders Insider Podcast joined by my good friend, the great Matt Hladik, the editor
00:11 and publisher of thespun.com.
00:13 It's great to have him with us.
00:15 As you know, we get together every week and we talk some Raiders football.
00:19 Matt, since the last time we talked, they went from a zero points against Minnesota,
00:26 which was unacceptable, and to an explosion of 63 points.
00:31 It is the most in franchise history.
00:35 It's a record in the NFL from going zero to 63.
00:39 A dominant performance in every single way.
00:43 We're going to break it down, but I want to just get your initial thoughts as you were
00:48 watching the game and what stood out to you.
00:52 Well, before we get to the Raiders, and they did play really well, I do have to say that
00:57 one of my policies covering football, and even as a fan, I think it's fine to criticize
01:08 things on the field.
01:10 I always try to avoid saying a team or players are soft or that they quit, because I think
01:18 football is a violent game.
01:21 You're out there putting your body on the line, and I think it's really easy for somebody
01:26 who's not there to say that players aren't giving 100%.
01:31 I think it's kind of a cop-out.
01:33 With that being said, the Chargers quit on Thursday.
01:36 There is no doubt in my mind that that was a team that once it got to be 7-0 or whatever
01:44 early on, they stopped playing.
01:46 I've never seen a team just completely look disinterested the way they did.
01:51 I know they scored three touchdowns in the second half, but if you play a full NFL game,
01:55 especially when a team gets up by that much, the other team's got to do something well
01:59 at some point.
02:00 So I thought it was just a disgraceful performance by the Chargers.
02:06 You knew that Brandon Staley was a goner during the game.
02:10 I think if the owner could have fired him during the game, he might have, but he had
02:13 waited until the next day.
02:15 So it was brutal for the Chargers, but kudos to the Raiders because they really did play
02:20 well.
02:21 They came out, they smelled blood.
02:23 Antonio Pierce made it clear in the half-minute interview that he wanted to continue to put
02:29 on the gas pedal and continue to show what the team was capable of.
02:33 I think it was great for the Raiders to be on the right side of a game like that, especially
02:39 after coming off a tough 3-0 loss.
02:41 I agree with you.
02:43 Let's talk about the game a little bit in more detail.
02:46 First of all, let's start offensively.
02:48 Great performance by Aiden O'Connell.
02:51 They've been wanting him to attack downfield all four days leading up to the game.
02:56 I had asked him and Antonio Pierce, both heart and gray, about the importance of attacking
03:02 down the field.
03:03 AP had made it extremely clear.
03:06 I've said it every week.
03:07 I'm going to continue to say it.
03:08 This is what I want.
03:10 He got what he wanted.
03:11 Your thoughts on the Raiders' offense?
03:14 I thought that you said right from the jump they wanted to push the ball downfield.
03:19 You saw them do it with Devon Day-Adams, with Trey Tucker, Jacoby Myers.
03:24 They utilized all their options at their disposal.
03:28 I thought that was, in general, a great sign for the Raiders.
03:32 It was a great game for Aiden O'Connell.
03:34 You look at how they were able to spread the ball around, not just to those three guys
03:38 I mentioned, but also Hunter Renfroe, Michael Mayer, no Josh Jacobs, but Amir Abdullaz,
03:44 Amir White had a great game.
03:46 Brandon Bolden dusting off the run game reps, which we don't usually see from him.
03:53 I think it was his longest run in five or six years in the NFL for that touchdown.
03:58 They were really able to get contributions from everywhere offensively.
04:04 It was a fun night.
04:05 I think the most important thing is, very rarely in the NFL do you get to, and this
04:11 is for any team, it doesn't matter if you're the best team in the league, worst team in
04:15 the league, very rarely in the NFL do you get to enjoy a blowout like that.
04:19 That's a homecoming style blowout, thinking of college football.
04:24 I think when you're a fan base and you're a team and you get one of those nights like
04:28 that, soak it up, enjoy it, it's a lot of fun.
04:33 Let's turn to the defense now where Patrick Graham, and you and I have talked about this
04:37 all year, one of the most unsung coaches in the National Football League.
04:42 When you look at the amount of resources from the salary cap invested in this defense and
04:47 what he's done, multiple guys being able to score, you just look at what this defense
04:55 was.
04:56 Minus his linebacker coach, who's spending more time with the offensive line, and Antonio
05:00 Pierce.
05:01 It's amazing what Patrick Graham has done.
05:04 There are not enough accolades to shower on that terrific coach.
05:10 I agree, and I think that was also an example of being aggressive early.
05:16 I mean obviously the other team has to fumble, but the Raiders, you could see they were making
05:20 an effort, a concerted effort to go get the ball and put a hat in the ball and try to
05:25 force turnovers early.
05:27 Jack Jones with a great job with film study, literally jumped the bubble screen and scored
05:32 a touchdown, so that means he's paying attention and knew the play was coming.
05:38 They were able to get contributions not just from Max Crosby, but from all over the defense.
05:42 You saw some of the second and third string defensive line playing in the second half,
05:47 making plays in the backfield and getting pressures.
05:50 I think it was a great effort, and I think it does kind of signify what we've talked
05:55 about of Patrick Graham being consistent throughout the entire year.
05:59 If there's one thing that you can say about the Raiders that's been consistent, I think
06:03 from start to finish, it's been their defense for the most part.
06:08 If they had a couple of bad games or bad performances mixed in, it was one game and that was it,
06:15 or part of a game and that was it.
06:18 Consistently week to week, they've been the best unit of this team.
06:22 I agree.
06:23 All right, let's talk about the Jack Jones interception.
06:27 As you know, I've seen a ton of football in my life.
06:30 Matt, I don't know that I've seen a prettier interception.
06:34 Have you?
06:35 Man, that was beautiful.
06:38 I'll tell you what, I don't think I've ever seen a screen pass intercepted like that.
06:46 I've seen screens to the running backs intercepted where a quarterback drops back and tries to
06:51 lob it over D-Lyman and he overthrows him and a linebacker standing there and gets it
06:56 or the D-Lyman makes an unbelievable play and jumps up.
06:58 I don't think I've ever seen a little tunnel bubble screen like that get picked off because
07:04 the defensive back readied and jumped the route, basically behind the line of scrimmage.
07:11 That was a tremendous play on his part.
07:13 Listen, he had his troubles in New England, but he is a player that was drafted early
07:21 and they wanted him to be a contributor, so he has talent.
07:24 So the Raiders, I think when you're a team that's building for the future and you're
07:28 taking the rest of the season as a developmental period, he's the type of player you want to
07:32 take a chance on, see what he can do and if you can get him to buy in.
07:37 I think you saw the physical gifts he has on display with that play because it was a
07:43 heck of a catch because the ball was actually behind him and he had to make a one-handed
07:46 play.
07:47 But also you saw some of the mental processing of being able to realize, "OK, this is this
07:54 formation, this is this, they're going to come out and do this," and he was able to
07:59 be there for the pass waiting in front of the receiver.
08:05 Let's talk about special teams.
08:07 They just continue to shine.
08:09 AJ Cole's the best in the business.
08:13 Daniel Carlson is.
08:16 To me, every facet of the Raiders against the Chargers was tremendous.
08:22 Coaching, which we'll get to in a minute.
08:25 Offense, defense, special teams.
08:27 It is special right now what that game was like for this franchise.
08:31 Definitely, and I think it's something you hope that they can build off of.
08:36 I know there were two, I'm trying to remember all the turnovers.
08:41 I know obviously there was one on a return where the guy fumbled, but were there two
08:47 special teams turnovers?
08:49 I'm trying to remember.
08:50 There was a bunch.
08:51 That shows you how much dominated it was.
08:55 We can't even remember what all the turnovers were, but the special teams were excellent
09:00 when they did have to punt because it wasn't too often with the amount of points they were
09:03 putting on the board.
09:05 But again, that's been a very consistent part of the Raiders all season long.
09:11 Going back to what you said about it being a special performance and what we said about
09:15 an enjoyable game for the fans and for the team, hopefully you can build on it.
09:20 And now you go into a nationally televised game against a rival on Christmas Day against
09:26 the Chiefs.
09:27 You're playing with house money.
09:30 You take your chances in Kansas City.
09:32 You see what they can do and hope for the best.
09:37 If you can carry that performance over, it should be a game.
09:41 I agree.
09:43 I want to get to the impact of Antonio Pierce.
09:49 Obviously they had given pregame scouting to Jack Jones about that screen.
09:56 They're the lowest penalized team in the NFL right now, which almost seems anti-Raider.
10:01 Yeah, it's amazing.
10:07 You look at physicality, he demands it.
10:11 You look at what happened against Minnesota where they played so good on special teams
10:15 and so good on defense but did nothing on offense.
10:18 Basically, he laid his will down.
10:22 They fouled.
10:23 They responded.
10:24 The impact of Antonio Pierce.
10:27 If you don't want him to get the job, that's fine.
10:29 That's certainly your opinion.
10:30 I'm not talking about you.
10:31 I'm talking about people in general.
10:33 But you cannot walk away from this not saying he has had an extremely positive impact sitting
10:41 in the head coach's chair for the Raiders.
10:43 Agree or disagree?
10:45 I agree.
10:46 I think also it's just that when you talk about the effort that they're playing with
10:50 and the effort they're giving for him, he's been a breath of fresh air there.
10:56 We all saw how happy they were to have him take over for Josh McDaniels.
11:01 I think that enthusiasm has carried over through the first six games of his tenure.
11:07 Now he's got an opportunity in the last three games to see, "Okay, test yourself against
11:13 the Chiefs team."
11:14 They don't look like they're vintage Chiefs, but it's still the Chiefs, still a premier
11:18 team in the NFL defending Super Bowl champs.
11:22 Then you have two winnable games.
11:24 They can beat the Colts, even though the Colts right now are pushing for the playoff spot.
11:29 They can beat the Broncos, especially at home after they won in Denver in week one.
11:35 This is an opportunity, I think, for him to ... Again, you don't know what Mark Davis
11:41 is thinking.
11:42 You don't know for sure.
11:43 I don't know if he's basing his decision on how these next three games go.
11:48 I don't know if that would be smart, but I think that how these next three games go,
11:52 if the Raiders come out and perform well and continue to look how they have, I think it's
11:58 a good ... Antonio Pierce further solidifying his case for saying, "Hey, I should stick
12:04 around here and be the permanent head coach."
12:07 Let's look ahead now to Kansas City.
12:09 It would be an upset for the Raiders to win.
12:12 That's no secret.
12:13 That's not being any world-breaking observation there by me, but I certainly think the Raiders
12:22 are playing better than they were prior to playing the Chiefs in Las Vegas.
12:29 I think the Chiefs are not playing as well as they were playing going into that game
12:33 in Las Vegas.
12:34 I think there's blood in the water.
12:35 I think the Raiders have some confidence.
12:39 To me, a win Christmas Day would be an upset, but it's not as much of an upset as I think
12:50 it would have been just a short time ago.
12:53 I think the Raiders are better.
12:54 The Chiefs aren't as good.
12:55 What are your thoughts on this game?
12:57 I think that's fair.
12:58 I think when you look at the Chiefs the last couple of weeks, really all season, their
13:05 passing game has not been what we're accustomed to.
13:09 Terrible.
13:10 I think that they had Tyreek Hill, who's one of the premier receivers, if not the premier
13:18 receiver in the NFL.
13:21 They let him go for trading money purposes, contract stuff, and I think they felt like,
13:26 "OK, we can allocate that money to different guys and to different positions, and we can
13:32 still be really good with Patrick Mahomes."
13:35 They were able to make it work.
13:36 Obviously, last year they won a Super Bowl.
13:38 They had Travis Kelce, they had Patrick Mahomes.
13:40 They got enough from their receivers.
13:43 This year right now, they are not getting enough from their receivers.
13:46 I think it's gone too far.
13:48 The other direction where they have too many jags, just the guys out there at receiver.
13:55 I do like Rasheed Rice, the rookie.
13:57 I think he's going to be a good pro.
13:59 He's shown some flashes already.
14:01 But you look at, I know he's banged up now, but Sky Moore, before he went on IR, has just
14:08 not been what they hoped.
14:10 Marquez Valdez-Scantling has shown why the Packers never really trusted him.
14:14 Hedarius Toney has shown why the Giants, who desperately needed receivers, traded him last
14:19 year when they had a winning record.
14:22 You can't rely on him.
14:23 He's going to screw up by either dropping passes or misaligning or things like that.
14:30 The Chiefs are definitely vulnerable.
14:35 I've said that they are the favorite in the AFC until beaten to prove it otherwise, because
14:41 of Mahomes and Reed.
14:43 But if they don't have the home field advantage, they could be very vulnerable in the playoffs.
14:50 Now in the immediate future, looking at Monday's game, I do think they beat the Raiders.
14:55 I think that it's a big game for the Chiefs.
14:57 They know what's at stake for their playoff seating, their home, Arrowhead, and National
15:02 TV.
15:03 But I think the Raiders played them tough.
15:05 It wouldn't be a major shocker to me to see Vegas win that game.
15:13 If they're able to carry some of last week over, if the Chiefs continue to sputter offensively.
15:21 So what's your prediction for Christmas Day?
15:24 My prediction is a 24-17 win for the Chiefs.
15:28 I think that they can get just enough offensively.
15:31 I think that Aiden O'Connell should have some more confidence, some more experience going
15:37 into this game.
15:38 He did the first time he played the Chiefs.
15:39 The Chiefs are going to be tough with Steve Spagnuolo looking to make life tough for a
15:43 young QB.
15:46 But I think that Kansas City ultimately gets it done and wins at home.
15:52 But I do think the Raiders put themselves pretty well to the National TV audience.
15:58 Right, so let's talk about Christmas for the Raiders.
16:02 Christmas is coming up, obviously.
16:05 Got the big game coming up at Arrowhead.
16:08 If you're Santa, what are the three gifts you're bringing the Raiders?
16:15 The three gifts I'm bringing the Raiders, and this isn't, are you talking about for
16:19 the game on Monday or just in future in general?
16:22 In general, to the organization.
16:27 Number one, I'm bringing stability.
16:28 I think that that is the one thing that this organization has lacked for the better part
16:33 of two decades.
16:35 And I'm bringing stability with my GM and head coach.
16:38 Now whether that's Champ Kelly and Antonio Pierce sticking on or if they go outside of
16:42 it, we'll see.
16:44 But I think that is, if you ask most Raider fans, I mean obviously wins, they want wins,
16:52 just win.
16:53 But I think most Raider fans said they want something stable, something long term.
16:58 So number one, if I'm Santa, I'm bringing stability.
17:06 Number two, I'm bringing a quarterback.
17:10 And whether that is Aiden O'Connell or whether that is a rookie in this draft, I think that
17:16 that's another thing.
17:17 Even though the Raiders did have Derek Carr for a while and he had some success there,
17:22 the Raiders haven't had a true, you know, they haven't had that star quarterback that
17:29 they had during their heyday in the 60s and 70s and 80s.
17:34 You know, they've had success with Rich Gannon, you know, won an MVP, went to a Super Bowl.
17:39 Obviously Derek Carr had some really successful seasons.
17:42 Going back into the 90s, they won games with Todd Marinovich and Jeff Hostetler and all
17:47 those guys.
17:48 They haven't had that ace in the hole, you know, blue chip quarterback.
17:53 So I'm bringing a stable franchise quarterback.
17:56 I don't know if he'll be top three or top five in the league, but a guy that you can
17:59 count on, rely on year in and year out.
18:04 Number three, I think what number three would be.
18:15 Number three is, and this will be tough because you have to beat the Chiefs next year and
18:22 unseat them to do it.
18:25 So maybe I'm that next year.
18:26 I'm bringing a home playoff game at some point in the next two years.
18:30 So you can cash in at some point in the next two years.
18:33 Because if you think about it, the Raiders have not had a home playoff game, I think
18:38 since the Super Bowl year, if I'm not mistaken, because they were on the road in 2016 and
18:46 they were on the road two years ago in Cincinnati.
18:52 So I'm bringing a home playoff game back to the Silver and Black and it'll be the first
18:57 one at Allegiant Stadium.
18:58 - All right, that is Matt Palatka-Clause giving you his three gifts to the Raiders.
19:03 I think it's pretty fascinating.
19:06 Interesting time, Matt.
19:07 I'm gonna give my prediction closer to game day.
19:10 I got some things I wanna wait and evaluate.
19:12 I wanna see some people's health and where kind of they're gonna fetter out on all the
19:17 process.
19:18 But a lot of good stuff coming.
19:20 Thank you for joining us today.
19:21 Now remember, you can find me on Twitter @HondoCarpenter.
19:28 You can find me on Instagram @HondoSR, SR stands for senior.
19:35 Also if you don't wanna watch the video, you can go watch, just listen to the audio on
19:39 Spotify or on Apple.
19:41 We also do a second podcast every day, which is just for the audio only audience.
19:46 Make sure you check it out.
19:47 So from thespun.com, the editor and publisher, that is of course the great Matt Hladdyk.
19:52 I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
19:58 of the Fans First Sports Network.
19:59 We'll see you all again later.