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Paul Gutiérrez, ESPN writer
HENDERSON, Nevada – Aidan O’Connell has seen this movie before. In fact, he starred in it.
So forgive the second-year quarterback if déjà vu makes you feel a certain way as O’Connell and the Las Vegas Raiders (4-12) head into Sunday’s season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6), who are headed to the playoffs. who are playing their best football of the season.
Especially with O’Connell’s efficient play essentially knocking the Raiders out of a draft spot that would have allowed them to select a quarterback of their choice, without having to make any trades.
Last year, O’Connell threw eight touchdown passes without an interception in the Raiders’ final four games; Las Vegas went 3-1 in that stretch.
Now, with the Raiders on a season-best two-game winning streak after losing 10 in a row, O’Connell has two touchdowns without a pick and completed 60.3% of his passes in those wins, against the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans. Saints.
Too little too late?
“Unfortunately, we’re still talking about that skid,” O’Connell said Wednesday. “It wasn’t ideal… It’s frustrating, but at the same time you try to enjoy the wins when you have them and you realize, like I keep saying, how hard it is to win and you just try to move on afterwards.” the victory. Celebrate and then move on to the next game and do it again.”
Additionally, it is the first time this season that the Raiders have gone two consecutive games without turning the ball over.
“It’s obviously tangible evidence that shows how important it is,” O’Connell said. “It’s not unique to our team. It’s really every team, and I think there’s probably not a coach at any level that doesn’t preach about turnover margin and protecting the ball.”
It’s also what Raiders coach Antonio Pierce preached during the offseason program, training camp and throughout the season.
Bittersweet might be the best way to describe the Raiders’ recent run of success, right?
Again, kind of like the end of last season.
Going 5-4 down the stretch, including 3-1 in the AFC West, with O’Connell at the helm, not only helped Pierce get promoted to interim coach, but kept the Raiders out of a prime position. to select a quarterback.
Six quarterbacks were selected in the first 12 picks (Vegas picked 13th and got a big consolation prize in tight end Brock Bowers).
O’Connell was defeated by free agent Gardner Minshew, who signed a two-year, $25 million contract with $15 million guaranteed, in a training camp battle.
But Minshew was alternately injured and ineffective before suffering a broken collarbone that ended his season on November 24.
O’Connell was also on injured reserve for four games with a broken thumb on his right hand (passing) on October 20.
And after returning, he suffered what appeared to be a season-ending injury in Tampa Bay on Dec. 8, when he was carted off the field with a cast on his left leg.
A bone bruise in his knee kept him out for just one game (Desmond Ridder started against the Atlanta Falcons) and with O’Connell returning and the defense tightening up, the Raiders haven’t lost since.
“Let’s get back to the quarterback competition in the spring and training camp,” Pierce said. “I thought he handled it like a pro. He was always ready to go.
“He’s just a tough player. It’s kind of like what we saw last year: the more reps he gets, the more opportunities he gets, he makes the most of them. And like I said, whenever he protects the ball, it puts us all in a better position “.
As a rookie, O’Connell started 10 of the 11 games he played in, going 5-5 as a starter. He passed for 2,218 yards while completing 62.1% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions for a passer rating of 83.9, a QBR of 40.5.
This season, he has started six of the eight games in which he appeared, going 2-4, passing for 1,398 yards and completing 62.2% of his throws with six touchdowns and three interceptions. He has a passer rating of 85.4 and a QBR of 50.6.
Hollywood will tell you that very few sequels are as good as the original, especially if the stories are so similar.
And yet, Pierce was succinct when asked if O’Connell had shown him enough this season for him to feel comfortable moving on to next season with him as his starting quarterback.
“Yes,” Pierce said, “I think Aidan O’Connell would be a starting quarterback in the NFL.”
It will be one of the most pressing issues for the Raiders this offseason: Will they try to move up in the draft to find that young, elusive, franchise-type QB? Or do they just work with O’Connell and build around him?
It’s the same dilemma Las Vegas found itself in last offseason, when the predominant narrative was Jayden Daniels or bust.
Because two weeks ago, the Raiders had the inside track on the No. 1 pick. Shedeur Sanders, anyone? Cam Ward on the Silver and Black courtesy phone?
O’Connell now projects that Las Vegas will have the No. 9 pick. And even if the Raiders’ new minority owner, Tom Brady, who already has a well-established relationship with Sanders, has the power in the organization to decree a promotion in the draft, it will be expensive.
And O’Connell, from a certain point of view, helped raise that price.
“We’re already at the end of my second year, so I haven’t been here very long, but definitely any reps you can get, I talk a lot about that, being able to even accumulate them throughout the week, I think. They’re very valuable,” he said. O’Connell.
“And then any game experience I can get is super valuable. So I’m trying to take every rep, every situation and learn from them. Successes, failures, put them in the bank and just try to grow.”
