Antonio Pierce’s honeymoon phase as the Raiders’ full-time head coach didn’t last long.
Pierce was skewered for deciding to punt on fourth-and-1 halfway through the fourth quarter in the Raiders’ 22-10 loss to the Chargers in their Week 1 opener on Sunday.
Las Vegas trailed 16-10 at the time and was on the Chargers’ 43-yard-line after taking the ball over at midfield.
The Raiders pinned the Chargers down at the 8-yard-line in what had been a game mostly dominated by defense.
However, the decision backfired when Los Angeles marched 92 yards for a touchdown — highlighted by a 61-yard run by JK Dobbins — to seal the victory in Jim Harbaugh’s debut.
“We considered going for it,” Pierce told reporters after the game. “It’s a long one, and we got stopped earlier in the game. The punter had done a good job pinning those guys back, he had two or three punts inside the 20. Defense was a strength for the most part. Keep them backed up with three timeouts.”
It’s safe to say the analytics community did not agree with this logic.
“The Raiders are valued at $6.2 BILLION, Absolutely inexcusable not to pay a math/modeling wizard to be in Antonio Pierce’s ear. Simply tell him punt, or go for it,” wrote Adam Levitan of Establish the Run.
“ESPN Analytics strongly disagreed with Antonio Pierce decision to punt on 4th-and-1 in Chargers territory.” ESPN reporter Paul Guttierez wrote.
“(Winning percentage) Go: 24.8% ( +5.7% ) WP Punt: 19.1%
“The Raiders are the 1st team to punt in opposing territory when trailing by 1 score in the 4th quarter on 4th-and-1 since 2016 (Bills).”
Timo Riske of Pro Football Focus summed up the situation more bluntly: “This is the dumbest thing you will see all season, trust me.”
Pierce, a former Giants linebacker, landed the full-time job in Las Vegas after leading the team to a 5-4 record last season after taking over for the fired Josh McDaniels.
“That’s coach’s decision,” quarterback Gardner Minshew said of the decision, per ESPN. “But I think anybody that’s a ballplayer wants the ball in their hands with the opportunity to help the team.”
The Raiders head to Baltimore to take on the Ravens in Week 2 at 1 p.m. on Sunday.