KANSAS CITY– You play a great game, but sometimes you still lose.
On Friday, despite a strong effort, the Las Vegas Raiders suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs 19-17 at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Raiders (2-10) have now suffered their eighth straight loss on the season. Meanwhile, the Chiefs (11-1) become the first team in the NFL to clinch a postseason berth, and have now won their league-record 14th straight one-possession game.
“We played very hard, had opportunities there to win it and put ourselves in position to win it,” said Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce. “The record it what it is, but this is a team that’s prideful, that’s playing for one another. There’s no quit. There’s no putting their heads down.”
Here are the takeaways from the Black Friday nail-biter:
Second half surge
Facing a 16-3 deficit midway through the third quarter, things seemed bleak for the Raiders.
However, instead of lying down, the Raiders answered the call and came roaring back against the Chiefs. In their final drive of the third, running back Ameer Abdullah set the Raiders up deep in Chiefs territory with a 68-yard kickoff return. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell would find tight end Brock Bowers three plays later to cut the lead to one possession. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Raiders would only need two plays to take the lead when wide receiver Tre Tucker took his only reception for a 58-yard touchdown. Despite the miscommunication between O’Connell and center Jackson Powers-Johnson that completely shut down the Raiders’ comeback bid, there were still positive signs to take from this game. O’Connell would finish with 340 passing yards and two touchdowns. Bowers would lead the receiving group with ten catches for 140 yards and a touchdown, while wide receiver Jakobi Meyers would have six catches for 97 yards.
“It’s just hard, you know, it comes down to a play and you would trade the whole game for a win,” said O’Connell. “Obviously, just a tough last play and wish we could’ve won, but super proud of my teammates’ effort and the coaching staff and really everybody that got us prepared, and we went out there and played well.”
Unsung defensive hero
For the second straight week, the Raiders have seen someone step up to complement defensive end Maxx Crosby. Last week against the Denver Broncos, it was defensive end Tyree Wilson, and outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson got his moment to shine this time against the Chiefs.
The 20th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, Chaisson has had nowhere near the same level of success in the NFL as he had for LSU. Against the Chiefs, however, Chaisson had arguably his best NFL game. He lead the Raiders with 1.5 sacks, including a crucial fourth-quarter sack on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to keep the game within reach. Having reliable play opposite Crosby has served the Raiders’ star edge rusher well, and Crosby was able to wreak havoc (one sack, two tackles for loss) due to the offensive line no longer being able to focus solely on him.
“They play their tails off, you know, 44 [Chaisson], 98 [Crosby], 9 [Wilson], the whole defense,” said Pierce. “It was really back and forth, even the way our coverage was and, you know, 15 [Mahomes] making the throws that he’s able to make and the way, you know, this really good team on offense, but I thought we were relentless. I thought we had a much better plan and understood the rush coordination which we talked about throughout the week.”
Special teams miscues
The cold Kansas City climate was always going to cause problems, and kicker Daniel Carlson unfortunately took the brunt of the damage.
One of the more reliable kickers in the NFL, Carlson looked nowhere near his usual self against the Chiefs. While he made his first field goal from 27 yards out, Carlson would miss his next three from 56, 55 and 58 yards out. Prior to this game, Carlson made 22 of 24 field goals (91.7 percent success rate), including going five-for-six on attempts from 50 or more yards out. It is never great to have an off day, but the pain is amplified in a close loss against a divisional foe.
“Our special’s been right between [Raiders punter] AJ [Cole] and Daniel, and I know he missed two and you can hear our guys on the sideline really believed in him,” said Pierce. “So, we brought out the punter. You know what, looking at the time, we play, we came here to win. So, felt good about our defense, where we was at that standpoint. We got the ball, we go out there, and even though [Carlson] missed it, we did get another three and out.”
The Raiders will try to break their losing streak against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next on Dec. 8.
