Antonio Pierce train slows down with Raiders loss; Marcus Peters expected to be released

LAS VEGAS — The 14-0 lead the Las Vegas Raiders jumped out to on Sunday just made it worse. The Kansas City Chiefs outscored them 31-3 the rest of the way and slowed the momentum of the Antonio Pierce train that was barreling toward becoming the full-time coach.

The Raiders head into the bye week with a 5-7 record after the 31-17 loss to the Chiefs at a half-red Allegiant Stadium. Pierce is now 2-2 as the interim coach and will have to show how he deals with adversity even beyond the team falling apart in the last 2 1/2 quarters.

Pierce benched cornerback Marcus Peters midway through the second quarter after the latest olé on a tackle attempt by the veteran. The two had a brief exchange on the sideline at halftime before Pierce walked away and Peters watched the second half by himself wearing a beanie.

Pierce wouldn’t go into detail on his decision, but there have been several instances this season where it looked like Peters gave minimal effort on some plays, dating back to costly plays in the losses against the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins .

Peters was almost cut earlier this season, according to sources, and is not expected back when the team returns from its bye week.

Peters, 30, was signed to be a leader in the secondary and did have an interception return for a touchdown in Week 8 against the Detroit Lions , but has been a huge disappointment. He was a step slower this season and, while never known for his tackling, it became an adventure even on plays where he was trying. The one-year, $3 million contract Peters was given was nowhere close to the Chandler Jones disaster, but definitely another dead flower in fired general manager Dave Ziegler’s cap.

Tackling has never been Marcus Peters’ strong suit, but his effort has been questionable on several plays this season. (Kirby Lee / USA Today)

Pierce will also have to address a Raiders defense that had no answer for crossing route after crossing route, and an offense that scored three points in the second half for the second week in a row.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 287 yards on 24-of-30 passing over the last three quarters, and when Travis Kelce wasn’t finding a soft spot in the zone defense, Chiefs receivers were just zig-zagging and beating defenders to the spot.

Tip your cap to the kings of the AFC West? Nah. Pierce wasn’t happy.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “We knew what was coming. There was a lot of speed on the field. ... There were opportunities for us to get the guy down and give us another chance. We didn’t do that.”

. After loss to Chiefs, they should start acting like it

It came down to anticipation, or the lack thereof.

“We did a good job of pre-snap awareness by formations in practice all week,” Pierce said, “and then in the game, we didn’t execute at crucial moments.”

Mahomes improved to 10-1 against the Raiders, with the Chiefs averaging 35.5 points in those games.

It’s getting old.

“They didn’t out-scheme us anything,” cornerback Amik Robertson said. “It was just 15 running around and finding open spots and throwing the ball. Same s— since I was a rookie. We have to find a way, especially when we go up like that. We have to step on their throats — on both sides of the ball.”

Raiders rookie Aidan O’Connell completed 11 of his first 12 passes for 128 yards, and when Josh Jacobs broke free for a 63-yard touchdown run 2:19 into the second quarter, the Raiders had a 14-0 lead.

But the Chiefs made some adjustments, cutting off the short passes to Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers that were working so well. And Jacobs only had 47 yards on his other 19 carries.

“No disrespect to them, but it was more about what we were doing,” Adams said. “We didn’t really execute the way that we had been earlier. We have to do a better job of sticking to the things that got us to that point and find a way to finish.

“It’s frustrating, and confusing too.”

The Chiefs offense, meanwhile, woke up after maybe dealing with a hangover from last Monday night’s Super Bowl rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles . They put together touchdown drives of 71 and 79 yards before halftime, and then a 75-yard one to start the second half.

After his fifth catch (on five targets) in the first 17 minutes, Adams was held without a catch (on two targets) the rest of the game.

The Raiders had a chance to stay in the game, down 28-17 with 6:34 left, but a fourth-and-1 handoff to Jacobs was a disaster, with the interior line folding and Jacobs stuffed for a loss of 2 yards. The play had no shot.

Jacobs had only 47 yards on 19 carries aside from his 63-yard TD. (Candice Ward / )

“We were a little off in our formation, and I need to do a better job of corralling the guys,” O’Connell said.

Defensively, the Raiders couldn’t slow down the Chiefs’ momentum.

Maxx Crosby made an incredible effort to even play in the game with a bad knee that forced him to miss practice all week. He even said he was hospitalized with infections. While Crosby did have a sack, he was not his usual dominant self.

“I was in a lot of f—ing pain,” Crosby said. “But I train all year round to do this and give myself an opportunity to play 17 guaranteed games, and if I can go, I am going to go.”

Robert Spillane had the only other quarterback hit by the defense, and the cornerbacks were easy pickings.

“We beat ourselves when it came down to it,” Robertson said. “It was just backyard football. Fifteen finds the open guy. We just have to do our job longer. ... We know we’re better than that team.”

That job may be a little easier to do after the Raiders finally get a week off after 12 games. Pierce sent the players home Sunday night with a simple message.

“Don’t take the wins for granted and don’t take the losses for granted,” he said. “I will learn. ... Obviously A.P. is going to get better ... sitting back and looking at how the game was managed, are the ideas and the way we are practicing showing up on the game film? It’s my job to get that better.”

But he pointed to the effort that Crosby made just to get on the field.

“There’s no quit in this team,” Pierce said. “And we’re going to get fresh during the bye week and get ready for the Vikings at home.”

There is no quit, but there needs to be a better finish. It may not matter for the Raiders’ remote playoff chances, but it does for the long-term outlook of this coaching staff and roster.

(Top photo of Marcus Peters: Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)

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