The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be heading in the right direction, but the jury is still out on whether or not they have the right head coach and quarterback.
The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be heading in the right direction, but the verdict is still out on whether or not they have the right head coach and quarterback.
Fresh off the heels of a two-game win streak, the Raiders went toe-to-toe with the high-powered Miami Dolphins. While they came up short in their 20-13 loss, they did so as massive underdogs — 14-point underdogs, largest margin of any team in Week 11 — and had several opportunities to send the game into overtime.
The Raiders entered Dolphins territory on three different occasions in the fourth quarter only to come away with no points. They failed on fourth down conversions on two of those drives with the third and final one ending in an interception thrown by rookie Aidan O’Connell in the end zone.
It’s clear that this franchise has a positive breath of fresh air with head coach Antonio Pierce leading the way since Josh McDaniels’ firing several weeks prior. You can sense it in the locker room and you can hear it in how the players speak even after a tough loss.
But this 5-6 Raiders squad — a team that had some people talking possible playoff appearance after a couple of wins over the lowly New York Giants and New York Jets — may still be a piece or two away from being a true playoff contender.
While playing against one of the lower-ranked defensive units in the NFL — the Dolphins ranked 26th in points allowed entering this game — the rookie head coach and rookie quarterback made key mistakes that cost the team the game.
One of those pivotal moments saw Dolphins tight end Julian Hill fumble the ball in Miami territory at the 32-yard line with 58 seconds remaining in the first half. Despite possessing two timeouts with a prime opportunity to take the lead — and momentum — in a game they were trailing 14-10, the Raiders instead opted to play for the field goal.
Pierce said following the game that the Raiders were protecting their young quarterback.
“Just wanted to kind of protect the young quarterback,” said Pierce on not being more aggressive at the end of the first half. “We want to get points on the board if we have that opportunity. Didn’t want to have anything happen that could be a negative for us. I just felt it was in our best interest going into halftime.”
While it’s true that O’Connell was making just his fourth career start, asking a rookie quarterback to make a few plays in a two-minute drill isn’t too much to ask for.
