Raiders vs Chiefs 2023 Week 12: Studs and Duds

Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell - Stud and Dud

This game was another bit of a mixed bag by rookie quarterback Aidan O'Connell who continues to show flashes of greatness but also flashes of inexperience as well. O'Connell's stat line looks pretty good on paper as he finished the day 23-33  for 248 yards and a touchdown, and most importantly no turnovers.

The young QB distributed the ball well to seven receivers and had a solid connection with both Jakobi Meyers and Davante Adams for much of the first half.  There were a few plays where his ball placement and accuracy was perfect and even entire drives where he looked like the future at quarterback.

 Unfortunately that greatness did not carry through the entire game as O'Connell and the Raiders offense struggled in a major way in the second half. We know that the Chiefs defense is among the elite this year so we can't be too harsh on him but the offense was still hard to watch in the second half. O'Connell missed open receivers a few times including yet another deep shot to Davante Adams who torched a double team to get open down the field.

Some of these struggles may be on the offensive coordinator for not making the right halftime adjustments but we also see O'Connell hold on to the ball too long in the pocket and take hits when he does not need to. He was absolutely walloped on one of those plays and spent some time in the blue medical tent which may have contributed to his end of game struggles as well.

As of today there is little evidence to suggest that O'Connell is the quarterback of the future but we know for sure that he is at least a competent quarterback at the NFL level. Unless something dramatic changes in the last five games of the season, O'Connell should be going into next year's training camp as the backup quarterback and a very good backup at that.