2 weeks Ago By Justin Churchill, A to Z Sports
The Las Vegas Raiders had the opportunity to possibly take the lead in their recent game, indicating a real shot at victory. With five minutes left to play in the third quarter, the Raiders trailed 13-13. However, the outcome was largely influenced by critical coaching decisions.
Head coach Antonio Pierce's lack of situational awareness, coupled with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy's subpar play-calling, directly contributed to their defeat. To put it simply, coaching errors were decisive. While it's true that the Raiders, with a record of 2-6, aren't performing up to expectations, this game demonstrated they could have capitalized on a subpar performance by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Given the Raiders' offensive showing, which was notably better than in previous games, the potential for a win was there, only to be undermined by strategic missteps from the coaching staff. Safety Tre'Von Moehrig managed to intercept Patrick Mahomes and returned the ball to the Kansas City Chiefs' three-yard line. With the Raiders' offense taking over from such a prime position, the expectation would naturally be to score a touchdown, wouldn't it? Well, that's what you would think.
But if you had never watched a football game before but knew the objective was to get into the end zone, you would think the Raiders were allergic to that idea. At this point, with the score at 17-13 in favor of the Chiefs and just five minutes left in the third quarter, the Raiders faced a critical moment. However, their strategy from the three-yard line was to attempt the same zone run play up the middle three consecutive times.
Each attempt not only failed to gain any ground but actually resulted in losses, with slight variations like a fake sweep mixed in. This repetitive and ultimately ineffective approach to such a crucial situation left many questioning the play-calling. The fan base was completely appalled by the decision-making of both Antonio Pierce and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
Not only that, but the Raiders also went away from their best player on offense, rookie tight end Brock Bowers, who is the best tight end in the league as things currently stand. They could have and should have gone to him on at least one of those plays. Antonio Pierce on the goal-line stand by the Chiefs, and why Raiders got away from throwing to Brock Bowers: pic.
twitter.com/B9N6ylIcqw "Brock, early in the game plan, obviously he is always a part of it, but I thought obviously Kansas City did a good job as far as bringing pressure, and the ball is coming out quick. You have to throw it to the open receiver," Pierce said after the game when asked why they went completely away from Bowers.
The Raiders only really have two successful skill players, at least for the last few weeks with Jakobi Meyers out. And those two are Bowers and Alexander Mattison. So, I don't know why you would go away from the guy that was playing so well in the first half.
This is one of the biggest things the Raiders will look back on when they look at the tape. The Raiders will play the Cincinnati Bengals next, followed by the Miami Dolphins , Denver Broncos , Chiefs again, and then Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Their schedule is about to get very tough This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.
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