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Linebacker Antonio Pierce is a free agent.

The Raiders could potentially use a veteran presence at the position. However, don’t expect a pairing. In October, after the New York Giants smoked Oakland 44-7, Pierce unleashed a brutal assessment of Oakland.

“Honestly, it felt like a scrimmage, like a practice," Pierce said in an appearance on Sirius NFL Radio. "It felt like we were going against our offense (in practice) as far as the tempo."

He didn’t stop there. Here are more of Pierce’s thoughts on Oakland’s effort:

"There was no vibe of trying or effort from the Raiders at all from a defensive standpoint against their offense. We're getting three-and-outs. You don't hear nobody (saying), 'Hey, let's go!' trying to pick the guys up, rallying them, getting guys fired up. There was nothing. It was quiet. A guy gets sacked or somebody gets beat, they just get up. It's not like there's yelling or no kind of (emotion) about the way they were playing.

"It was shocking to be out there in that game and get that kind of feeling."

Many Oakland players were furious at Pierce. When Oakland came back to beat Philadelphia the next week, several Oakland players said Pierce’s words were motivation. Off the record, several Oakland players had some choice words for Pierce.

So, let’s take this chance to scratch Pierce’s name off of any Oakland free-agent wish list.

Denver -- The following are the inactives for Thursday night’s game between the Giants and Broncos. There are few surprises:

Denver Broncos

• Tom Brandstater (3rd QB)
• Kenny McKinley, WR
• LaMont Jordan, RB
• Seth Olsen, G
• Ryan Harris, T
• Chris Baker, DL
• Brandon Lloyd, WR
• Jarvis Moss, OLB/DE

New York Giants

• Ramses Barden, WR
• D.J. Johnson, DB
• Kevin Dockery, CB
• Ahmad Bradshaw, RB
• Antonio Pierce, LB
• Adam Koets, T
• Guy Whimper, T
• Sinorice Moss, WR

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson

Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 9.

	Kyle Terada/US Presswire
	Philip Rivers goes head to head with Eli Manning on Sunday.

Rivers-Manning I: When does a San Diego crowd treat an opposing quarterback worse than a New York crowd would? When he spurns them. There is little chance Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers will be booed Sunday like Giants quarterback Eli Manning was booed when he played in San Diego in 2005. Rivers will likely just get the usual treatment an opposing star gets from Giants fans. New York doesn’t hold anything against Rivers. It was Manning’s reluctance to play in San Diego that spurred the draft-day trade in 2004 that sent Manning to New York and Rivers to San Diego. Manning was the No. 1 overall pick and Rivers was the No.4 pick. Manning has been a public enemy in San Diego since, while Rivers has grown into the face of the franchise. This will be the first time in the NFL these two players started against each other.

Run Jamaal, run: The Chiefs are just looking for a reason to lessen Larry Johnson’s load. Jamaal Charles could be the reason. Charles will likely get several carries Sunday in Jacksonville while Johnson sits out during a one-game team suspension. Charles played well in the Chiefs’ last game, Oct. 25 against San Diego. The second-year player is a speedster who is intriguing. With Johnson’s situation tenuous, Charles could increase his work load the rest of the season with a good performance Sunday.

Can Chargers benefit from the curse of Antonio Pierce? Ever since Pierce blasted the Raiders, the Giants have been awful. Call it the Curse of Pierce. The Chargers are hoping it lasts another week. The Giants have lost three straight games, twice by more than 20 points, since beating Oakland 44-7. After that game, Pierce said playing the Raiders was like playing a “scrimmage,” and he was amazed by how listless Oakland’s players were. The words offended several Oakland players and the Giants haven’t won since.

Tough test for Denver tackle: Denver right tackle Tyler Polumbus will make his first start Monday night against Pittsburgh. His first challenge: LaMarr Woodley, who had 11.5 sacks last season. Polumbus probably also will see some of reigning NFL defensive player of the year James Harrison. Good luck, kid. Polumbus got a taste of life in the NFL last week when he subbed for the injured Ryan Harris. Polumbus had to deal with Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs, and did decently. Polumbus could be in the lineup for three weeks.

Tough stretch for San Diego begins: The Chargers got back on the winning track with wins over lackluster Kansas City and Oakland teams to improve to 4-3. Now, life gets a little tougher as the Chargers start a stretch in which they play at New York, host Philadelphia and then at Denver. If the Chargers are going to get back in the AFC West race (Denver leads San Diego by two games), they will have to play well during this stretch.

	Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
	The Oakland Raiders were clearly motivated against Philadelphia.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson

OAKLAND -- Antonio Pierce’s harsh comments about the Oakland Raiders ended up doing both the Raiders and his New York Giants a favor.

Pierce’s words woke the Raiders up, who reacted by punishing the Giants’ NFC East rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, in a 13-9 upset win Sunday. Somebody should ship a game ball to Pierce.

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After a four-week funk, the Raiders finally played with the passion they showed in a narrow Week 1 home loss to San Diego. In the three games prior to its stunning win over bumbling and unprepared Philadelphia, Oakland was 0-3 and was outscored 96-16. The embarrassment reached a climax last week when the Giants beat Oakland 44-7. Pierce said playing Oakland was like playing a “scrimmage” and he expressed shock at how listless the Raiders were.

“I’m not going to lie, it was noticed by us,” Oakland linebacker Kirk Morrison said. “We talked about it. We don’t want people saying that stuff about us. We all agreed that we were not playing with confidence and it was time to wake up. Those comments really got us going. ... What happened to New York today. They gave up 48 points [in a 48-27 loss at New Orleans]. This is a week-to-week business … But Antonio did us a favor by saying those things.”

Oakland defensive tackle Gerard Warren had this to say: “I hope we can get to the Super Bowl and face the Giants again … [Pierce] has no effect on this locker room.”

Actually, he did, and it was positive.

Oakland rookie Louis Murphy said the players took Pierce’s comments to heart.

“We had enough,” Murphy said. “We wanted to end this nonsense.”

Murphy played a major role in ending the nonsense. The play of the game was an 86-yard touchdown pass from JaMarcus Russell to tight end Zach Miller on a 10-yard pass. Murphy, a fourth-round pick from Florida, threw two nasty blocks for Miller, who rambled into the end zone to give the Raiders a 7-3 lead. It was Oakland’s biggest play of the day and the only touchdown of the game.

When asked if that play could be the turning point of Oakland’s season, Murphy said, "I think it is."

It takes only one win to change the morale of a locker room. And for now, all is well in Oakland, whether Pierce thinks so or not.

Warren said Oakland, thanks to its win Sunday, can now focus on the good and bury the past month.

“Spaceships don’t have rearview mirrors,” Warren said. “You can only look up.”

Here are some other key developments from Oakland’s win:

Here comes the blitz: The Raiders finally unleashed the blitz Sunday. Oakland had blitzed only 20 times going into Sunday’s game.

Oakland pressured Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb relentlessly. The Raiders had six sacks, their highest total since 2005. Philadelphia had major trouble with the blitz after left tackle Jason Peters left in the first quarter with a knee injury.

“We came after them hard,” Warren said. “We wanted it.”

Eagles coach Andy Reid admitted that his team didn’t expect Oakland to blitz much and that the Eagles were unable to adjust.

Oakland cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said the Raiders worked on blitzing in practice often during the week. He said he hopes the team continues to use it more in the future. The Raiders play host to the New York Jets on Sunday. Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has been shaky in recent games, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Oakland tried to harass him.

Stopping the pass: Perhaps it was Oakland’s blitzing, but the Eagles were out of sorts all game. The team could do little right on offense and Reid tried to solve the problems in the air. Forty-six of Philadelphia’s 60 offensive plays were passes. McNabb completed 22 passes for 269 yards.

The Eagles ran the ball twice in the fourth quarter.

“We thought they would run some more, but they just kept throwing,” Oakland defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “We just adjusted and played it pretty well.”

Oakland’s effort in the pass-defense game was admirable considering Asomugha missed most of the game with an eye injury. He said he the injury is not expected to be long-lasting.

Just enough offense: Oakland won this game on defense and because the Eagles floundered all game. But the offense did show some improvement.

Oakland had 325 yards of offense. It was the first time since Week 1 that the Raiders broke the 200-yard mark in total offense. Russell wasn’t great and he missed several open receivers. But he didn’t kill the Raiders.

He completed 17 of 28 passes. The Raiders continued to play it safe with Russell, but he looked comfortable. A key for Russell is finding Miller, his favorite target. Russell threw to Miller 11 times. Miller ended up with six catches for 139 yards.

Miller is Russell’s way out of the abyss. If Russell can rely on Miller, cut down his mistakes and throw accurately, he has a chance to salvage his season.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson

Denver owner Pat Bowlen indicated that star receiver Brandon Marshall could get a contract extension down the road. Marshall wanted a trade earlier this year because he wanted a raise.

Marshall has seemed to calm down and he is now saying he is happy in Denver. If Marshall finishes the year strong on the field and stays out of trouble off the field, Denver could offer him a deal in the offseason.

Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce was critical of the Raiders after the 44-7 thrashing the Giants gave the Raiders on Sunday. Pierce said playing Oakland was like a “scrimmage’ and he was stunned how listless Oakland’s offensive players were in the beat down. Every day, there seems to be a damaging report about Oakland. It is definitely not getting better there.

Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli says there is no trade of linebacker Derrick Johnson in play.

Denver cornerback Champ Bailey talks about the team’s turnaround in a radio interview.