Raiders' Antonio Pierce questions players' effort in loss to Panthers

Going into the Week 3 contest against a Carolina Panthers team that was considered the worst in the league, there was no shortage of concern that the Las Vegas Raiders would have a letdown performance following their emotional upset victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.

And that's exactly what happened — the Raiders got blown out of their own building, losing to Carolina, 36-22, in what was the latest chapter in Andy Dalton's sterling career against the franchise.

The Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead quickly before the Raiders matched. But the Panthers went on to score 26 unanswered points over the next three quarters to easily cruise to victory in a game that wasn't even as close as the score indicated.

Following the game, head coach Antonio Pierce had a brutally honest take on the Raiders' performance.

"We got our ass whooped (in the trenches)," Pierce said, according to Tashan Reed of The Athletic .

No lies detected there. The Panthers ran for 131 yards on the ground and Las Vegas didn't get much pressure on Dalton outside two sacks the defense mustered up. On offense, Las Vegas ran for just 55 yards on 16 carries, continuing their dreadful beginning to the season on the ground.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, Pierce questioned his players' effort.

"I think there was definitely some individuals that made business decisions," Pierce said, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic . "And we'll make business decisions going forward, as well."

In one fell swoop, the Raiders erased all of the good will they had built up after the upset win over the Ravens. They'll look to get back on track in Week 4 against the Cleveland Browns .