For Antonio Pierce to gain more love than he already has from the Las Vegas Raiders community, beating the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs would be a start.
Patrick Mahomes and company are back-to-back Super Bowl champions, but Pierce believes he has a way of getting the best of them while he is head coach, and some NBA inspiration has to do with it.
During an appearance on his star edge rusher Maxx Crosby’s podcast, Pierce reference Detroit Pistons players from the "Bad Boys" era and how they disrupted the best player in the game at the time: Michael Jordan.
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"We’ve got the Jordan rules, and we’ve got what I’m calling now, from now on as long as I’m here, the Patrick Mahomes rules," Pierce said.
"You remember when Jordan was going through it with the Pistons, all those guys in the ’80s before he became Michael Jordan, Air Jordan, the Pistons used to whip his a--. Any time he came to the hole, elbows, feeling him, love taps. We’re in his head, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, I’m touching you. So I showed my guys Jordan getting his a-- whooped."
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The NBA is not the only other league Pierce has showed his players. Boxing and UFC are also in the rotation for clips that he uses to inspire a fighter’s mentality while playing.
Of course, the league is very mindful of how players tackle during games, especially when it comes to the quarterback. That said, the "love taps" or other things that can get under a player’s skin is what Pierce, a Super Bowl-winning linebacker with the New York Giants during his career, is looking to achieve.
"We’ve got to knock off the head of the snake. Fifteen. Hate the color red," Pierce said. "There’s a hatred for the Chiefs."
The Raiders were the last team to beat the Chiefs, taking them down, 20-14, on Christmas. Las Vegas’ defense pestered Mahomes all game long, while also controlling the line of scrimmage when Isiah Pacheco tried to establish the run game.
If the Raiders can continue to get after Mahomes and keep him at bay considering his abilities outside the pocket, they can continue to pick up victories against the Chiefs.
It is no easy task stopping back-to-back world champions, but Pierce may provide the inspiration necessary to make sure his team has the best chance to do so in 2024.
