Raiders doomed by stalled drives, missed field goals in narrow road loss to Chiefs

Black Friday got even darker for the Silver & Black as the team continues to slide.

In a matchup tabbed as “Best team in the NFL vs. Worst team in the NFL” by head coach Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas was edged out by Kansas City, 19-17, on the road Friday, Nov. 29. The Raiders beat the Chiefs in a similar situation last season on the road in December before Kansas City would run the table to capture its second straight Super Bowl.

“These guys battled even at the very end until the clock hit zero,” head coach Antonio Pierce said. “They believed we were going to win and they fought their asses off until the end.”

Las Vegas is now 0-5 in the AFC West as its losing streak reaches eight straight. It’s the franchise’s longest losing streak since 10 straight back in 2014.

Entering the week, the team was tied for the worst record in the league and will remain as it falls to 2-10 this year. It has now been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

“I’m going to keep talking about that,” Pierce said. “There are going to be a lot of narratives but the way this team fought, the effort, how competitive they were and how they stuck together, that’ll be us the rest of the season.”

Las Vegas will complete its two-game road trip Sunday, Dec. 8 in Florida with a matchup against Tampa Bay. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. from Raymond James Stadium.

The usually reliable Daniel Carlson missed three of his four field goal tries in what would eventually be a two-point loss for his Raiders. All of his misses came from 50 yards or further.

Carlson made his first try to tie the game at three apiece early in the second quarter. Before today, he was 22-for-24 on the year on field goals.

His first miss would come on the team’s next drive with a chance to take a three-point lead. On average, the seven-year pro misses just over three kicks a year but has missed five so far this year. The most he’s missed in a single-season in seven back in 2019.

Carlson missed another field goal with a chance to trim a 10-point deficit down to one possession. Before last season, he had never missed more than one field goal with the Las Vegas franchise and has now recorded one-such game in back-to-back years.

Carlson’s final miss of the night came with less than two and a half minutes left in regulation. A make would’ve given the Raiders a, 20-19, lead.

“Our specialists have been great,” Pierce said. “I know he missed two and you could hear it on our sidelines, guys believed in him. Hell, I didn’t blink so we brought out the punter — look, we came here to win.

”Even though he missed it, we did get another three-and-out and that gave our offense a chance.”

Las Vegas’ offense did get quarterback Aidan O’Connell back for the first time since Week 7 due to a broken thumb. Even with the second-year QB back under center, the issues to complete drives remained for the unit.

It had some early success going to receiver Jakobi Meyers with a 43-yard catch early in the second quarter followed by a 24-yard connection. Meyers would end up with 97 yards on six receptions.

O’Connell’s biggest target was rookie tight end Brock Bowers, who continues to set records.

Bowers secured a 29-yard snag through a defensive pass interference on a drive that would end in Carlson’s second miss of the night. He’d finish the next drive himself on a 33-yard touchdown grab through double coverage.

With 14 targets to his credit, Bowers ended the game with a game-high 10 receptions for a game-high 140 yards and a touchdown.

“Just dominant,” Pierce said. “Obviously, one of the better players on our team, just keeps finding the ball. The bigger the moment, the bigger this rookie stands up. It’s impressive to watch, especially late in the ball game.”

O’Connell threw two touchdowns on the day with the other going to receiver Tre Tucker on a 58-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter. That score gave the Raiders their first and only lead of the game at 17-16.

“Aidan did a hell of a job,” Pierce said. “He stayed in the pocket, made some big time throws for us. He was able to push the ball down the field. Obviously, the numbers say what they say but he really stepped up.”

O’Connell went 23-for-35 with 340 passing yards and those two touchdowns.

Throughout the success, he was chased often by All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who compiled two of the three Kansas City sacks in the game. Prior to that, he had gone the last two months without recording a sack.

The risky move to go for it on a 4th and 1 from the Kansas City 31-yard line resulted in a turnover on downs after Las Vegas failed to pick up the yard.

There was a vital misstep on the team’s final offensive possession of the game as rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball to an unaware O’Connell with the play clock reaching zero and the game clock nearing the final 10 seconds.

Las Vegas would lose the ball as the home team recovered it but a thrown flag lingering on the field meant perhaps the Raiders still had life. The call would be an illegal shift on the offense which would be declined by Kansas City, effectively securing the win.

“Last play there was a lot going on,” Pierce said. “ From officiating to the flag to the ball being snapped. I gotta look at film.”

Before the fumble, a field goal from that range would’ve been 48 yards for Carlson.

“We were going to snap the ball and just throw the ball out of bounds,” Pierce said. “The ball is at the 32-yard line, we were going to kill four or five more seconds and kick a 49-yard field goal.”