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By Robert Read
Life & Trends Reporter
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The Las Vegas Raiders joyfully made their way to the locker room up 42 points against the Los Angeles Chargers at halftime in Week 15's Thursday Night Football massacre, though the time for celebration had hardly settled in yet. Instead, Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce had a simple message for his team.
"Press the gas pedal even harder," he told the Raiders at halftime.
Pierce didn't have to ask twice. The Raiders set a single-game franchise scoring record in their 63-21 win over the Chargers, who promptly fired head coach Brandon Staley and General Manager Tom Telesco on Friday morning as a result.
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Less than a week after being on the wrong side of a 3-0 shutout loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Raiders relished their drubbing of a divisional foe. Las Vegas ran up the score with a trick-play touchdown in the second half. Two defensive players also reached the end zone. And a flabbergasted, in a good way, owner Mark Davis couldn't help but put his hands on his head in amazement through it all.
It's not surprising that Pierce—whom former cornerback and current analyst Richard Sherman wisely pointed out once coached a high school team to a 99-9 win—resisted pumping the brakes. The thought never came to mind.
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"We knew at halftime what the record was," Pierce said about the franchise's scoring mark. "We wanted to be aggressive regardless of what the score was. If we had 21 or 10, we were going to be aggressive. That was our mindset."
That was certainly apparent. This Raiders' outing surpassed the franchise's 59-point performance in 2010. It's the most points ever allowed by the Chargers. And Vegas' 42-point halftime lead at Allegiant Stadium was just three points shy of the NFL record.
Pierce is 3-3 as interim coach since the Raiders (6-8) canned Josh McDaniels. After Thursday night's outing, perhaps his chances at the full-time gig just got a whole lot better.
In Los Angeles, the loss prompted the Chargers to make changes of their own.
Staley, in his third year leading the team, had been on the presumed hot seat for most of the season. And now the Chargers (5-9) have cleaned house.
"I want to thank Tom and Brandon for their hard work, dedication and professionalism and wish them and their great families nothing but the best," team owner and Chairman of the Board Dean Spanos said in a statement.
He went on: "These decisions are never easy, nor are they something I take lightly—especially when you consider the number of people they impact. We are clearly not where we expect to be, however, and we need new vision."
The loss comes roughly 11 months after the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in last season's playoffs. This is the first time the Bolts have made an in-season coaching change since 1998, according to ESPN.
After Thursday's loss, Staley faced several questions about his job status, including if he expected to remain the Chargers coach. "I don't know that," Staley said. Asked if he should be, the 41-year-old said, "Yes."
And then he elaborated: "I know what I've done here for three years, and I know what I've put into this, and I know where we're capable of going. I know the type of coach I am. I believe in myself.... Games like this happen in the NFL to every coach that's ever coached in this league.
"You can look at any great coach that's ever coached in the league. Sometimes games like this happen, and I don't need to retrace history, but it's just, it's part of sports," he said.
The Chargers, though, felt a fresh start was needed.
Staley finishes an even 24-24 in his Chargers tenure. Los Angeles' defense, which the former Rams defensive coordinator had been calling plays for, ranks 27th in points allowed per game and 29th in yards per game allowed following this latest loss—the franchise's fifth in its past six games. Allowing nine touchdowns to a team that was shut out four days ago and getting diced up by rookie quarterback Aidan O'Connell (248 yards, four touchdowns) will do that.
After a 10-point loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12, Staley criticized the notion that he wasn't getting through to his players. The Chargers, he said, would be getting "blown out of the stadium" if his messaging was being ignored.
Well, that just happened.
Offensively, the Bolts were without franchise quarterback Justin Herbert, who underwent season-ending surgery on his right index finger earlier this week, in the game. Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen was also out of the lineup, with a heel injury. But that hardly made the Chargers feel any better.
"We got our [butts] kicked," Chargers running back Austin Ekeler told reporters after the game. "That's all I got for you."
Added Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater: "We just got our a** kicked. That's all that happened. This is the [expletive] NFL. People get hurt. [Expletive] happens. We got to finish. We got to play better than that. That's really all there is to it. I take full ownership of my performance. It was terrible. There's no excuses. No feeling sorry."
The Raiders have an extended break until they next take the field, on Christmas Day against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers, in their first game post-Staley, face off against the Buffalo Bills on December 23.
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