Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce found a very unusual way to describe his team ahead of its Friday afternoon game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
During media availability on Wednesday, he called his Raiders “the worst team in football.” Wait, what?
Here’s the full quote for context: “Let’s call a spade a spade, right, the best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, alright? Let’s go out there and make it a dogfight. Let’s make it ugly. Let’s make it scrappy.
“It’s Black Friday. Let’s create a little chaos. Let’s get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality and let it loose.”
#Raiders HC Antonio Pierce on Friday's game vs. the Chiefs: "Let's call a spade a spade. Best team in football against the worst team in football. Let's change the narrative." pic.twitter.com/P9CCAaaCDa
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 27, 2024
While that phrasing might make Las Vegas fans do a double-take ahead of Friday’s game, Pierce pretty clearly seems to be pointing out a public narrative that his team is the worst in the NFL since it is 2-9.
Pierce doesn’t at all seem to be insulting the Raiders as being the worst in football as much as he’s accepting that the tepid public expectations for his team in Friday’s game against quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Rather than saying his team stinks, Pierce clearly seems to be saying that he’s hoping his team can change some minds about that notion.