Las Vegas played to win Monday night in Kansas City, but the aggressiveness ultimately didn’t pay off for the Raiders.
Josh McDaniels’ team didn’t lose its fight after squandering a 17-point first-half lead at Arrowhead Stadium. The Raiders quickly responded after the Chiefs gained a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, as Derek Carr and Davante Adams connected for a 48-yard touchdown three minutes later. All the Silver and Black needed to do was send out dependable kicker Daniel Carlson for a point-after attempt that would have leveled the score at 30-30 if converted.
Instead, the Raiders kept their foot on the gas and went for two. The visitors came up short, as running back Josh Jacobs wasn’t able to add to his big night with go-ahead points that might have sealed an upset win for Las Vegas. After the game, McDaniels explained why he didn’t play it safe.
“I felt like in that situation, (Kansas City) had a lot of momentum offensively, obviously in the second half,” McDaniels told reporters, per ESPN. “We had a play that we felt really good about. I thought we would get a look that gave us a shot at it.”
McDaniels added: “We had a chance. We had a fair fight in it. They played a little bit better than we did. We gave ourselves an opportunity to take the lead there and put a little bit more extra pressure when they had the ball, nothing more nothing less, just being aggressive and trying to win the game. I know it was 4:30 (remaining in the game) or whatever the time was, but our team felt good about it and felt like it was the right call at the right time.”
The Raiders are one of only six teams with one win on the season as we head into the second quarter of the campaign. Given the struggles Las Vegas encountered this past month, a Week 6 bye probably is coming at a perfect time for McDaniels’ team.
