LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden acknowledged that the memories I scored too soon against the Kansas City bosses on Nov. 22 and the visions of Patrick Mahomes leading a last-minute, game-winning trip on Allegiant Stadium, could have affected his game at the end of the last second, Saturday night, 26-25 defeat to the Miami Dolphins.
Rather than take a touchdown, the Dolphins seemed willing to surrender late in the game, the Raiders chose to milk the clock and let Josh Jacobs intentionally go down the 1 yard line before defender Derek Carr knelt on the third down. They were satisfied with a 19-meter field goal to give Las Vegas a short-lived, two-point advantage.
“The game was to eliminate all the clock and all the timeouts and put them back on the wall with 19 seconds left,” Gruden said. “I do not regret. I did not want [Dolphins quarterback Ryan] Fitzpatrick has the ball. … I didn’t want to be in a four-way situation. He is a gunman; it was hot. That’s all I can say. I don’t regret it a bit. I only regret the results.
“But are there 19 seconds left on your 25-yard line with no timeout? I’ve been playing tracks for a long time. The probability of doing so is remote.”
Unfortunately for Gruden, the Raiders’ defense exploded on the race that followed.
On the first descent, Raiders corner Damon Arnette simply let Dolphins wide receiver Mack Hollins cross him on the left line without any obstacles. Fitzpatrick, with Raiders defensive end Arden Key, turning his head back, unleashed a deep ball that Hollins ran and, with Raiders defensive end Isaiah Johnson, who arrived late, was transported. for a takeover of 34 meters.
He threw the 15-meter penalty from Key’s mask, and the Dolphins were within range. Two moments later, Jason Sanders’ 44-meter goal, with a second left, was the winner.
“Unfortunately, they played a game of despair,” Gruden said, “and the penalty was horrible.
“Fitzpatrick gives his boys chances that most defenders don’t take. He’s willing to throw football on the field in tight windows … He caught us.”
Carr, still feeling the effects of a tense groin that left him nine nights earlier, had the Raiders in a position to win – even if, in difficulty, he may not have given the best shots at I earn.
The Raiders were 0-for-10 on the third down against the Dolphins.
“This could be the hardest,” said Carr, who is in his seventh season with the Raiders and has seen his share of important moments and dim lights with the team. “It’s hard. It’s a difficult way to get out, especially with all the excitement of the week for me.”
Carr passed 21-of-34 passing for 336 meters and a touchdown of 85 meters on Nelson Agholor.
“I’m sick of our organization,” Carr said. “I’m sick of our defense … My heart feels bad for our fans.”
Carr said he agreed with Gruden’s game at the last minute and would not have scored the touchdown and left for a 2-point conversion to force the Dolphins to score a TD.
“I thought I did it absolutely perfectly,” Carr said of the last unit. “I don’t regret it. You take all his timeouts. You take all your time off the clock. … You just expect to win that game.
“The way the Coach did it was perfect, his games were perfect. His communication – perfect. The only thing we regret is not finishing in a victory.”
In five trips inside Miami’s 25-yard line, the Raiders came out with a single touchdown and four field goals. As mentioned by the Associated Press, the Raiders have scored just two touchdowns in the last 13 full discs with Carr at quarterback. They scored three TDs on six complete units behind the more mobile and healthier Marcus Mariota.
As the Raiders scored a touchdown with 1:43 to play to take a three-point lead over the Chiefs in Week 11 – when Muhammad continued to throw a winning touchdown pass 75 seconds later – the Raiders were in -a tail. Las Vegas lost five of six, including that loss to Kansas City, to see its record fall from 6-3 to 7-8.