NFL star envied Las Vegas Raiders' mentality under Antonio Pierce after loss

NFL star envied Las Vegas Raiders' mentality under Antonio Pierce after loss

The Las Vegas Raiders finally snapped their losing streak to the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2023 campaign after handing their division rival a loss on Christmas Day, and the contest left tight end Travis Kelce impressed.

The victory ended the Raiders' six-game losing streak against Kansas City that went back to 2020 and was a huge feather in the cap of head coach Antonio Pierce, who clearly had Las Vegas playing with a different mentality during his tenure as the interim head coach.

And that mentality under Pierce stood out to Kelce, who basically admitted he envied it while also noting that the Raiders ruined his Christmas in what he called a "turning point" for the Chiefs' season.

"We got our ass beat by the [expletive] Raiders on Christmas. [Expletive] ruined Christmas," Kelce told Bussin' With The Boys. "[Antonio Pierce], he had those dudes ready to brawl right there on the field... And I love that [expletive]. I was like, man if we play with that kind of edge, or that kind of toughness, that kind of like don't f--k with us mentality, we won't be stopped. And it just kind of ended up like that. But that Raiders game was definitely a turning point."

Pierce ended up leading the Raiders to a 5-4 record after a 3-5 start under Josh McDaniels and had his team flirting with the playoffs as a result. But it was more than just about the record, as Las Vegas also saw improvement on both sides of the ball.

If the Raiders can build on all of that during the 2024 season, they should contend for a playoff spot and may end their two-year drought when it's all said and done.