Raiders eliminated from playoffs on last-second kick
Needing a win over the Miami Dolphins to preserve their fading playoff hopes, the last thing the Raiders needed to do was invent a new way to lose.
But that’s what they did in a stunning 26-25 loss Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium that puts an end to their postseason dreams.
It all came down to a late-game sequence in which they rejected multiple offers by the Dolphins to score a go-ahead touchdown while setting up first-and-goal at the Dolphins’ 8-yard line with 1:55 to play.
Leading 23-22, the Dolphins (10-5) were willing to give up a touchdown to retain as much clock as possible in hopes of mounting a potential game-winning drive. But the Raiders (7-8) had other ideas. They opted to resist crossing the goal line in favor of running as much time as possible off the clock and setting up a short field goal.
The thinking being, between the clock they burned and all the timeouts they forced the Dolphins to use, there wouldn’t be enough time for the Miami to drive the field for a go-ahead score.
Three plays later, including a slide by Josh Jacobs just short of the goal line and Derek Carr taking a knee on third-and-goal from the one, Daniel Carlson booted a 22-yard-field goal to put the Raiders ahead 25-23 with 19 seconds left.
“We wanted to give the Dolphins the ball with as little time left as possible, with no timeouts,” is how Raiders head coach Jon Gruden explained the thought process.
On the field, Carr and his teammates were on the same page.
“You can think of a million different scenarios, the way we could have handled that,” Carr said. “And I thought we did it absolutely perfect. I don’t regret it. You take all their timeouts away. You take all the time off the clock. You just expect to win that game.”
But in a sign they may have tempted the football powers that be, the Raiders suffered major consequences. That is the chance you take when you reject an opportunity to make a team drive the length of the field for a touchdown to beat you rather than merely getting in position to kick a game-winning field goal.
The Raiders’ penance came in the cruelest manner imaginable.
With the Dolphins set up at their own 25-yard-line after the ensuing kickoff, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who came on in relief of Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter, somehow completed a 34-yard pass to Mack Collins while getting simultaneously pulled by the facemask by Raiders defensive end Arden Key.
Between the long throw to Collins and the extra 15 yards from the penalty, the Dolphins were unbelievably in field goal position at the Raiders’ 26-yard-line with 12 seconds left.
Two plays later, Jason Sanders booted a 44-yard kick to hand the Raiders one of the most unlikely losses in recent memory.
“That’s messed up. Ain’t no way around it,” Raiders tight end Darren Waller said. “That just hurts. I don’t know what else to say.”
The loss ended the Raiders’ playoff hopes and denied them a chance to finish with a winning record for just the second time since 2002. When they travel to Denver to close out the season next week, they hope to avoid their second-straight 7-9 finish.
The Raiders, it should be noted, stood at 6-3 just six weeks ago.
It also ruined a gutty performance by Carr, who was a game-day decision while dealing with the groin injury that knocked him out of the Chargers game 10 days ago. Still hobbled by the injury, Carr completed 21 of 34 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown.
“I’m sick for our defense. I’m sick for our team,” Carr said. “My heart feels for our fans, to be so excited. We take the lead, then it’s gone.”
In the process, a solid effort from a struggling defense was wasted. As was the five-catch, 155-yard night for Nelson Agholor and the five-catch, 122-yard game by Waller.
Looking back on it, Gruden believes he did the right thing.
“I don’t regret it one bit,” Gruden said. “I just regret the results.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.
