As another dreadful season winds down for the Las Vegas Raiders, little wins do matter. On that front, losing two games to their bitter rivals, the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos, by a total of 10 points could go in the moral victory column.
In the final seconds of the Week 14 loss to the Broncos, down by 10 points, the Raiders benefitted from a weird delay of game penalty on Denver safety Brandon Jones after he did a bit more than just touch wideout Tyler Lockett to make sure he was down. Otherwise, the clock would have run out.
Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson then made a 46-yard field goal as time expired to make it a 24-17 loss for the Silver and Black. It was about as inconsequential as it gets, and it felt like a cosmetic move to lose by one score instead of two.
There was never going to be enough time for the Raiders to get the ball back and do anything with it.
Pete Carroll has expected explanation for field goal decision
Head coach Pete Carroll met virtually with reporters on Monday. He was, of course, asked what went into his decision to kick that field goal with just five seconds left in the game against the Broncos, and his answer falls in line with just about every other puzzling answer he's had this season.
"If you notice, I was battling with the official, making a plea for -- We saw eight seconds, seven, which would've given us a chance to kick the field goal, kick an onside kick, and maybe have a second left.
"And then when it went down to five, or went down to three or whatever they did, and put it back to five, whatever, then I knew it was going to look stupid, like you couldn't figure out why we were doing it," Carroll said.
Well, at least Carroll knew it looked stupid. Las Vegas' head coach did say that he was pleading to get the clock up to 10 seconds left, which might have made a difference. Obviously, this was to no avail, but Carroll was intent on "competing all the way."
"There was a clear thought of what we were trying to get down there, just to take it down to the very last click," Carroll said. "That might not be good enough for you, I understand that, but I think you can see what we were trying to do, but it just didn't work out."
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Recovering an onside kick has always been a fairly low-percentage play, and rules implemented by the NFL in recent years have made it next to impossible to recover one. The kicking team has to declare they're doing it beforehand, so any potential surprise element has been eliminated.
If the Raiders had somehow recovered the onside kick that they would've attempted had there been time left, only a penalty would have kept the game clock from expiring anyway. With mere seconds left, what could the Raiders' offense have gotten done, barring a meltdown by the Broncos' defense?
Carroll is probably the only one who had a "clear thought" for why the Raiders kicked a field goal when they were down by 10 with five seconds left. He has now confirmed there was wishcasting about getting more time on the clock, recovering an onside kick, and trying to score a tying touchdown.
Most coaches adjust when the circumstances they wanted do not exist. Instead, with half of the remaining time that he had pleaded for and no chance of anything further, Carroll kicked a field goal just like he originally intended. But hey, a seven-point loss looks a little better than a 10-point loss.