LAS VEGAS >> When the week began, the New York Giants thought they were preparing for a Josh McDaniels-coached team quarterbacked by Jimmy Garoppolo.

But after a rough Monday night performance at Detroit on national TV, the Las Vegas Raiders fired McDaniels — and others — and benched Garoppolo.

Antonio Pierce, who played for the Giants in 2005-09, will be the Raiders’ interim coach and rookie Aidan O’Connell the starting QB when the teams meet Sunday.

Maybe O’Connell can get the Raiders going. He has one of the league’s top receivers in Davante Adams and the reigning rushing champion Josh Jacobs, though he has yet to gain 100 yards this season.

“We’ve got still one of the best running backs in the game,” Pierce said. “He understands that. He knows his role and what’s going to happen going forward, and that’s what’s going to help the quarterback.”

O’CONNELL HANDED THE QB JOB >> When Pierce was asked about the starting quarterback, he said it was O’Connell and not just on a limited basis.

“It will be Aidan going forward,” Pierce said.That statement does leave some wiggle room should O’Connell struggle and the Raiders turn back to Garoppolo. But Garoppolo is on the bench for a reason, and the other quarterback, Brian Hoyer, lost to a former Division II quarterback in his one start at Chicago, so it’s not as if the club has a lot of great options if O’Connell can’t move the offense or if he struggles with turnovers.

So the chances are probably better than not O’Connell will be the starter the final half of the season, and then the organization must determine whether it’s his job to keep or whether one of the QBs in next year’s draft might be the answer.

O’Connell hopes this start is much better than his first one when he had three turnovers and was sacked seven times by the Los Angeles Chargers. But at least he has that experience to draw on so that taking the field Sunday won’t be a completely new experience.

“I think that the experience is super valuable for me,” O’Connell said. “I definitely learned a lot and tried to take from what I learned and apply it in practice. It’s also now a different challenge and a different team we’re going against.”