Following a victory that potentially jeopardized their draft standing, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce defended his team's focus on winning. The Raiders' win against Jacksonville, combined with a New York Giants loss, pushed the Raiders down to the sixth overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Pierce addressed the criticism stemming from the win, emphasizing the team's commitment to victory over draft positioning. He stated that draft projections and fantasy football standings are irrelevant to the team's objective, which is solely to win games. "We don’t do this to lose," Pierce commented, according to Pro Football Talk. "We don’t do this for anybody’s fantasy football team. We don’t do this for anybody’s draft projections. None of that s--- matters to us. Only thing that matters to us is winning, and that’s all we want to do."
The Raiders are currently enduring one of their least successful seasons, with a record far below expectations after narrowly missing the playoffs the previous year. Pierce took over as head coach mid-season last year, replacing Josh McDaniels. The team's playoff appearances have been scarce since their Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, having only reached the postseason twice and failing to advance beyond the wild card round in those instances.
The Raiders will play their next game against the New Orleans Saints on the road, concluding their season with a matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
