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'It's going to be hard to break': The Raiders' record-breaking 63-point game stands firmly in the city of Las Vegas

Antonio Pierce, a Compton, California, native, remembers the impact the Los Angeles Raiders had on him as a young football player, wearing No. 81 in youth flag football as an ode to Hall of Fame receiver Tim Brown.

"They were my superheroes," said Pierce. "Back in the day we played with our toy action figures, but to me there was nothing like watching those guys run up and down the field."

On December 14, 2023, the Raiders franchise further cemented a "superhero" legacy as they defeated a divisional foe, the Los Angeles Chargers, 63-21.

The 63 points, with 14 points contributed from the defensive side of the ball, stand as the new franchise record for most points scored in a game. The Raiders are just the eighth NFL team to have surpassed 60 points in a single regular-season game since 1970.

"It's going to be hard to break because there aren't a lot of teams that've scored in the 60s in their franchise history," Pierce said. "For a person like myself who's a defensive coach, to be able to add a few defensive touchdowns to that record and for the record to be broken on a defensive touchdown I hope my name stays in the record book in that sense."

Before the franchise record belonged exclusively to the city of Las Vegas, the most points scored in a game in Oakland and Los Angeles were both against another AFC West opponent – the Denver Broncos.

Tim Brown, one of the aforementioned favorite players of Pierce, helped the Silver and Black put up 48 points on the Broncos on September 18, 1994. The former Heisman-winning receiver had seven catches, 136 yards and a touchdown in the 48-16 victory.

"That was a pretty big game for us," said Brown. "We had always played [the Broncos] well I thought, but that was a time where offensively we all came together. I remember the one touchdown I had; I was carrying the ball down the sideline one-handed like a windmill because someone had tripped me up. But I was able to get my balance and get back in the end zone."

The record that the 2023 Raiders broke stood for 13 years. The most points scored by the Oakland Raiders was in a 59-14 routing over the Broncos – once again in Mile High Stadium – on October 24, 2010. Running back Darren McFadden, who had a career-high four total touchdowns and nearly 200 yards from scrimmage, still replays that day in his mind.

"Anytime we played the Broncos, I always looked at it as a big rivalry," said McFadden. "It was a big buildup to it, and we wanted to go out there and perform at our best. That Sunday, it was an amazing game. We took off, scoring left and right and it felt like everything we tried worked for us that day."

As McFadden's record-setting days are now further back in the franchise's history books, there's no bittersweet feelings about seeing them broken. Additionally, there's a sense of excitement to see the record now shift hands from Oakland to Las Vegas.

"I definitely love the move to [Las Vegas] for them to have a new stadium and a new place to call home," McFadden said. "There's definitely so many Raiders fans already in Vegas, so to be able to come there and win these ballgames and being able to put up as many points as they did, that's something that the fans there will love for time to come and it's always going to be great for the city of Las Vegas."

Brown was in attendance at the game prior to the 2023 record-breaking win, where the Raiders were shut out by the Minnesota Vikings 3-0. It was a pleasant "unexpected" surprise to see his former team turn things around within four days, giving kudos to Pierce for rallying his troops.

"When you do that against a divisional opponent, it almost counts as double," said Brown, "because not only are you sticking it to them in the division, but you're sticking it to them in the AFC too. ... Nobody expected to see the offense come out like that, and the defense obviously played great scoring touchdowns."

As the Raiders head into their season finale, ironically against the Denver Broncos, Antonio Pierce had a message for Raider Nation and Las Vegas residents alike:

"Las Vegas, we have our first record. Hopefully, one of many to come."

View the best photos from the Raiders' Week 15 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium.

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