Antonio Pierce made the perfect start to his tenure as interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders at the expense of former team New York Giants at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.

Josh Jacobs rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns while rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell went 16 of 25 passes for 209 yards as the hosts trounced the Giants 30-6 to give Pierce victory at the first attempt since taking over the helm from Josh McDaniels as Raiders head coach six days earlier.

In the lead-up to his debut in the NFL as a head coach, Pierce spoke about a desire of restoring pride and a winning mindset at the Raiders which his players personified in a ruthless display against his former team.

“We talked about pride and poise and getting back to being ourselves,” said Pierce, who has Bermudian parentage. “Everything that’s going on is in front of us, not behind us. The team effort you saw today is what we displayed in practice Thursday and Friday.”

The win saw the Raiders snap a two-game losing streak and improve their record to 4-5 to move into second spot in the American Football Conference West Division.

The 30 points they scored and 125 rushing yards were both a season high while their margin of victory is the NFL's largest immediately following a mid-season coaching change since 2015.

The Raiders also made history with a Black interim coach, a Black interim general manager in Champ Kelly and a Black female team president in Sandra Douglass Morgan.

“You don't take that for granted,” added Pierce, who won the Super Bowl with the Giants in 2008. "Humbled by the opportunity."

The former Washington Redskins and Giants linebacker was appointed to the role for the rest of the season after the firing of McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler shortly in the wake of the NFL trade deadline expiring on October 31.