LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden acknowledged that memories of scoring too early against the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 22 and visions of Patrick Mahomes leading a last-minute game-winning ride at Allegiant Stadium may be the end of the last second, Saturday night’s 26-25 loss against the Miami Dolphins.
Rather than take a touchdown, the Dolphins seemed willing to surrender late in the game, the Raiders opted to milk the clock and let Josh Jacobs deliberately go back to the 1-yard line, before quarterback Derek Carr took one knee in third place. . They settled for a 19-yard field goal to give Las Vegas a momentary two-point lead.
“The game was to eliminate all the clock and all the timeouts and put them back against the wall with 19 seconds to go,” said Gruden. ‘I do not regret it. I didn’t want to [Dolphins quarterback Ryan] Fitzpatrick to have the ball. … I didn’t want him to end up in a four-down situation. He’s a gunfighter; he was hot. That’s all I can say. I don’t regret it for a moment. I only regret the results.
‘But still 19 seconds, on your own 25 meter line, without timeouts? I’ve been calling plays for a long time. The chance of achieving that is slim. ‘
Unfortunately for Gruden, the Raiders’ defenses imploded on the ensuing ride.
First down, the Raiders, Damon Arnette, the Raiders ‘corner defender, Mack Hollins, the Dolphins’ wide receiver, just let it run unimpeded along the left sideline. Fitzpatrick, with Raider’s defensive end Arden Key turning his head back, released a deep ball that Hollins was running under and, with Raider’s defensive back Isaiah Johnson arriving late, he was brought in for a 34-yard pick-up.
Throw in Key’s 15-yard face mask penalty and the dolphins were in field target range. Two snaps later, Jason Sanders’ 44-yard field goal was the winner with 1 second to go.
“Unfortunately they played desperately”, said Gruden, “and the punishment was terrible.
Fitzpatrick gives his boys opportunities that most quarterbacks don’t take. He is willing to throw the football across the field in narrow windows. … He’s got us. ‘
Carr, still feeling the effects of a tense groin sidelining him nine nights earlier, had enabled the Raiders to win – even if, hobbling, he might not have given the Raiders their best shot at winning.
The Raiders went 0-for-10 in third place against the Dolphins.
“This may be the hardest,” said Carr, who is in his seventh season with the Raiders and has seen his share of highs and lows with the team. “That’s tough. That’s a tough way to go out, especially with all the emotion from the week for me.”
Carr went 21-of-34 passing for 336 yards and an 85-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Nelson Agholor.
“I’m sick of our organization,” Carr said. “I’m sick for our defense … My heart feels bad for our fans.”
Carr said he agreed with Gruden’s playcalling at the last minute and would not have scored the touchdown and made a 2-point conversion to force the Dolphins to score a TD.
“I thought we were doing absolutely perfect,” said Carr of the final stage. ‘I do not regret it. You take away all their timeouts. You take all the time off the clock … You just expect to win that game.
“The way Coach did that was perfect, his game was perfect. His communication – perfect. All we regret is that we didn’t win.”
In five trips within the Miami 25-yard line, the Raiders got away with just one touchdown and four field goals. As the Associated Press noted, the Raiders have only scored two touchdowns in their past 13 full runs with Carr as the quarterback. They’ve scored three TDs on six full rides behind the more mobile and healthier Marcus Mariota.
Ever since the Raiders scored a touchdown with 1:43 to play to take a three-point lead over the Chiefs in week 11 – when Mahomes threw a winning touchdown pass 75 seconds later – the Raiders have been in a tailspin. Las Vegas has lost five of the six, including that defeat to Kansas City, to see the record drop from 6-3 to 7-8.