Antonio Pierce says Raiders will channel Bad Boys Pistons with ‘Mahomes rules’
New Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce wants his defense to channel the Bad Boys Pistons anytime it plays Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. That is, he wants his players to beat up Mahomes the way the Pistons used to beat up Michael Jordan.
“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 on The Rush podcast hosted by Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby.
In the lead-up to the Raiders’ Christmas Day upset of the Chiefs this season, Pierce, at the time interim head coach, said he showed his players highlights of those championship Pistons teams making Jordan pay for every time he attacked the basket, led by bruisers like Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn.
“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 whup his ass. 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 ass whupped.”
The Raiders went on to sack Mahomes four times among 10 quarterback hits and scored two defensive touchdowns in a 20-14 win. It was the Chiefs’ last loss before they went on to win their third Super Bowl with Mahomes.
In his playing days, Pierce had the same take-no-prisoners style. The former Pro Bowl linebacker helped the Giants upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII by roughing up Tom Brady every chance they got. He wants the Raiders to “hate the color red” as they aim to take down Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC West.
“We’ve gotta win the division first. We’ve gotta knock off the team in red,” he said. “They’ve dominated. We’ve gotta knock off the head of the snake: 15.”
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