Antonio Pierce train slows down with Raiders’ loss; Marcus Peters expected to be released

Antonio Pierce fear the worse as player suffers a huge injury.

LAS VEGAS — The 14-0 lead the Las Vegas Raiders jumped out to Sunday just made it worse. The Kansas City Chiefs outscored them 31-3 the rest of the way and slowed the momentum of the Antonio Pierce train that was barreling toward becoming the full-time coach.

The Raiders head into the bye week with a 5-7 record after the 31-17 loss to the Chiefs at a half-red Allegiant Stadium. Pierce is now 2-2 as the interim coach and will have to show how he deals with adversity, even beyond the team falling apart in the last 2 1/2 quarters.

Pierce benched cornerback Marcus Peters midway through the second quarter after the latest olé on a tackle attempt by the veteran. The two had a brief exchange on the sideline at halftime before Pierce walked away and Peters watched the second half by himself wearing a beanie.

Pierce wouldn’t go into detail on his decision, but there have been several instances this season when it looked like Peters gave minimal effort on some plays, dating back to costly plays in the losses against the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins.

Peters was almost cut earlier this season, according to team and league sources, and is not expected back when the team returns from its bye week.

Peters, 30, was signed to be a leader in the secondary and did have an interception return for a touchdown in Week 8 against the Detroit Lions but has been a huge disappointment. He was a step slower this season, and though never known for his tackling, it became an adventure even on plays when he was trying. The one-year, $3 million contract Peters was given was nowhere close to the Chandler Jones disaster but definitely another dead flower in fired general manager Dave Ziegler’s cap.