Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

So close: Raiders defend their aggression as gutsy calls, penalties end in loss at Chiefs

Raiders head into the bye with four losses of less than a touchdown

Raiders Chiefs

Charlie Riedel / AP

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels watches during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 30-29.

Raiders at Chiefs, Oct. 10

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams, left, catches a 48-yard touchdown pass as Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook (6) defends during the second half Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. 


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Amid the sounds of pads slamming on the ground and tape being ripped off bodies, Josh Jacobs entered the visiting locker room at Arrowhead Stadium with his head down. His voice carried above all the commotion as he yelled out an expletive and exhaled deeply.

The Raiders’ running back, who was rejoining his team after doing a television interview, hadn’t forgiven himself for a failed two-point conversion run after the final touchdown in a Monday Night Football game against the Chiefs. Jacobs nearly led Las Vegas to a major upset over Kansas City with a career-high 154 rushing yards but came up inches short on what could have been a decisive score in a 30-29 loss.  

“I really blame myself because I could have reached the ball over,” Jacobs said. “I know we harp on not reaching the ball, but it was one of those situations where it wouldn’t have mattered if I did, so I just put that on my shoulders.”

So close yet so far. That’s the story of the season for the Raiders, who fell to 1-4 heading into their bye week with all of the losses coming by less than a touchdown.  

This one felt like the cruelest as the Raiders could have immediately gotten back into AFC West contention and sitting one game back in the standings with a victory. And Jacobs’s failed two-point conversion was one of many oh-so-close plays that could have propelled them there.

The final one came about four minutes later when receiver Davante Adams appeared to catch a 15-yard fade pass down the sideline to the Chiefs’ 39-yard line. But replay overturned the reception, ruling that Adams didn’t have full control of the ball before stepping out of bounds.

“That was a critical play, and I wish I could have capitalized,” Adams said similarly to Jacobs. “I did everything I could to make the play, and I thought the play was made.”

Adams’ catch would have set up a maximum of a 54-yard field goal for Daniel Carlson. The veteran kicker had already made kicks from 47, 50 and 53 yards on the night as part of the NFL’s longest current streak of 38 straight successful field goal attempts.

Instead, Las Vegas faced a fourth-and-1 play from their own 47-yard line with 47 seconds remaining. Knowing Kansas City would send a heavy blitz, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels called for a pass with Adams and Hunter Renfrow running deep routes.

The same strategy worked on the first touchdown of the game, when quarterback Derek Carr hit Adams for 58 yards on a fourth-and-1 play. But this one didn’t.

Adams and Renfrow collided with each other, leaving them both on the ground as the ball fell several yards in front of them.   

“They were aggressive, and we were aggressive, too,” McDaniels said. “We were just trying to make a play.”

Some will surely accuse McDaniels’ aggressiveness as recklessness.

If the Raiders don’t go for the two-point conversion after Adams’ second vertical touchdown reception — from 48 yards on a third-and-6 play with 4:27 remaining — they likely have a chance in overtime. If they then go to Jacobs instead of bombing downfield on fourth-and-1, they’re also potentially still alive.

Coaches going overboard with risky decisions is a hot topic in the NFL, after inactive Chargers star receiver Keenan Allen publicly questioned a fourth-down call by coach Brandon Staley on Sunday. But the Raiders expressed no dissent with McDaniels’ decisions.

They were even pushing for more, as Carr lobbied to go for it on at least one fourth down where Las Vegas kicked a field goal early in the game. Jacobs said it was part of the game plan and that McDaniels preached “third-and-1s, fourth-and-1s, two-point plays,” all week.    

“I love it,” Carr cut off a question about the two-point conversion. “We were all fired up….We’re going to try to take the lead and win it. I’m all for it.”

The Raiders didn’t voice any criticism with the officiating either, though that might have been a more difficult exercise in tongue-biting. Another game-altering, fourth-quarter play fell in the Chiefs’ favor when edge rusher Malcolm Koonce was flagged for a bizarre defensive holding on a failed 37-yard field goal with the Raiders trailing 24-23.

That gave the Chiefs an automatic first down and led to tight end Travis Kelce catching his fourth touchdown pass of the night from quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Foreshadowing Las Vegas’ later attempt, Kansas City went for a two-point conversion and failed so the score held at 30-23.

The Raiders picked up more penalties in the second half, eight, than at any other half of the season after a highly controversial call worked to their benefit shortly before halftime. Chiefs edge rusher Chris Jones strip-sacked Carr, but it was negated with a roughing-the-passer flag for landing on top of the quarterback.

“They’ve got a difficult job,” McDaniels said of the officials. “I’ll never stand up here and say that cost us anything in the game. We got penalized. They got penalized. I know this: We can coach it and play it cleaner than we did. That’s what I’m going to take away from the game, trying to coach it better and get the guys to execute it better.”

Regardless of the reasons, Las Vegas felt it played well enough to win the game and had a compelling statistic case to back up the notion. The Chiefs have fielded the most explosive offense in the NFL over the last five years, and the Raiders outdid them in that category Monday.

While Kansas City sustained drives better, Las Vegas made most of the big plays, racking up a 6.8 yards per play average to the home team’s 5.3. The Raiders held the Chiefs to no points on their first three drives with edge rushers Maxx Crosby, who had two sacks, and Chandler Jones, who had repeated pressures, constantly harassing Mahomes.  

The former NFL and Super Bowl MVP eventually got it together by throwing for 292 yards while completing 29 of 43 attempts, but he had only two completions of more than 20 yards. That should be good enough against a player the caliber of Mahomes.

“I have no doubt we’re going to get it together,” Jacobs said. “I think a lot of teams watched this game tonight. I think a lot of America watched this game tonight and was like, ‘OK, they might have something up their sleeve.’”

Jacobs’ initial frustration turned to positivity the longer he was in the locker room. The same was true for Adams, though he didn’t control his initial anger as well as Jacobs did and now could face consequences.

Adams shoved an on-field photographer to the ground on his way to the locker room when they crossed paths. He quickly tweeted an apology and expressed remorse to reporters saying he “shouldn’t have responded that way.”

Adams’ emotions got the best of him on a night when so many little things could have gone differently to deliver the Raiders to a better fate than the same losing one they’ve now suffered four times this season.

“It would probably be less frustrating if you don’t have that great of a team, but we have a really good team so it’s frustrating for it to happen and keep happening,” Adams said. “We’ve just got to keep on trucking, keep on sticking to what we do and finish off games.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or