Raiders-Chiefs Result: Spotlight on Antonio Pierce in another loss in Las Vegas

One of the main reasons Antonio Pierce is head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders is the way his team handled the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day in Kansas City.

The Raiders manhandled the Chiefs. Pierce made that his mantra and in February talked about a rule for the game against Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Basically, the idea was that the Raiders would bully Mahomes, and that was their recipe for beating Kansas City.

On Sunday, Pierce Mahomes had little resistance as the Chiefs defeated the Raiders 27-20 at Allegiant Stadium.

The Raiders have lost four straight games and are 2-6 and have trailed by double digits in all eight games.

Now that he's a full-time coach, there's no juice left among Pierce and his staff. The Raiders have played a full season under Pierce since he became interim coach a year ago. They are 7-10.

Sunday's loss was aided by errors from players and coaches, as errors continued to pile up and strange coaching decisions continued to weigh on the team on both sides of the ball.

When asked if he was thinking about taking away play calls from first-year offensive coordinator Luke Getsy (who had another rough day), Pierce said he thinks the issues are more execution-based.

Whatever it is, the Raiders are in big trouble and aren't going away, and no, they're no match for Mahomes and the Chiefs overall.

Here are some important aspects of the game:

Minshew is fine:

Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew was sharp early, completing his first eight pass attempts. He finished 24 of 30 passing for 209 yards. He lost a fumble in Las Vegas territory in the fourth quarter that allowed the Chiefs a touchdown and gave them a 27-13 lead. Minshew has 11 turnovers this season, leading the NFL. The Raiders, as a team, have committed a league-leading 17 turnovers in eight weeks. Still, Minshew likely did enough to keep the job for another week as the Raiders travel to Cincinnati in Week 9 before their bye

Run game drops again:

The Raiders running game has really missed Josh Jacobs all season. Sunday was no different. The Raiders couldn't get anything going and had 33 yards rushing on 21 attempts. New starter Alexander Mattison had 15 yards on 14 carries. Former starter Zamir White has rushed for just 12 yards on five carries in the two games since returning from injury. White had 145 yards rushing against the Chiefs on Christmas last season. The Raiders' ground game issues are a big part of the problem.

Bowers again produced:

The Raiders' star rookie tight end Brock Bowers had some big plays early on, finishing the game with five grabs for 58 yards. His 52 catches are a team record for a tight end after eight games.

Offensive line wobbles:

The Raiders' offensive line has had its fair share of issues this season, and Sunday was no different. In addition to the ground game issues, Minshew was sacked five times by the Chiefs. The Raiders are dealing with injuries on the line. Center Andre James was sidelined on Sunday with an ankle injury. If it holds up, we'll see rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson at center and Cody Whitehair at left.

Third-down success:

The Raiders entered the game with the second-best third-down conversion rate. The Chiefs didn’t care. They converted 12 out of 16 times on third down, which contributed to the victory.

Maxx on O:
The Raiders used defensive star Maxx Crosby as a fullback near the goal in the third quarter. It will be interesting to see if this continues occasionally.

More Spillane:
Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane surpassed the 10-tackle mark for the sixth time this season. The pending free agent is a big part of this unit.

Strange series:

After trailing 17-10 in the third quarter, the Raiders got a big chance when DJ Turner returned a long punt and the Chiefs were penalized at the end of the play, giving the Raiders the ball at the Kansas City 29. The Raiders then went 14 yards in five minutes and 51 seconds, only to settle for a field goal. The Raiders had a first-and-goal at the 4, but then turned that into a fourth-and-goal at the 14 before the field goal. Messy.

Then this:
The Raiders were in business after a Tre'von Moehrig interception left them trailing 17-13 at the Chiefs' three-yard line in the third quarter. The Raiders couldn't run the ball. They tried on fourth down and Gardner Minshew was sacked. Ugly.

Ridder cameo:

Backup quarterback Desmond Ridder, who was brought in during the week to replace the injured Aidan O'Connell, made a planned play in the third quarter, but there was a false start. It will be interesting to see if he plays in Cincinnati next week.

Kelce sets record:

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce tied former Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez's record with his 115th reception against the Raiders. It is the most an opponent has ever scored. Kelce scored his first touchdown of the season, giving the Chiefs a 14-10 lead in the second quarter. Kelce, a known hitter for the Raiders, had his best game of the season with 10 catches for 90 yards.

Strange clock management:
Pierce and his staff made a surprising decision, and on Sunday it happened again. First, they took a timeout on defense shortly after the two-minute warning timeout. Then they were down 14-10 with 1:57 left in the first quarter, and at their 30 they were very conservative, kicking the ball back to Kansas City with 58 seconds left in the half. The Chiefs stormed down the field, scored a field goal with four seconds left and took a 17-10 halftime lead. The Raiders used all of their timeouts before the two-minute warning in the second half, allowing the Chiefs to take a 27-20 lead after recovering the onside kick.

Welcome back, Meyers:
Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, the Raiders' No. 1 receiver after trading Davante Adams to the New York Jets, missed the last two games with an ankle injury. He returned on Sunday and wasted no time helping the team. He had a first down to extend the Raiders' first drive and then caught a touchdown pass from Minshew to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. Meyers had six catches for 52 yards.

Difficult beginning:
The Chiefs' offense, which struggled early in the game, slowed down, rushing 70 yards on nine plays in four minutes, 58 seconds to take a 7-0 lead on the first series of the game.

Hostile takeover (again):

Once again, Allegiant Stadium was overrun by fans of the opposing team. Like every year in Las Vegas, Chiefs fans take up a large part of the stadium on Sunday. The Chiefs fans were so loud that they forced the Raiders into a false start on their first offensive play of the game. This is a problem that won't go away for the Raiders. The good news is that there probably won't be many more big acquisitions this season. The Raiders have four home games remaining: against Denver, Atlanta, Jacksonville and the Chargers. Broncos fans travel best from those teams, so big acquisitions will likely have to wait until the 2025 season, when they host Dallas among other teams.