“No,” he said.
With the game clock stopped with 15 seconds left and the Raiders at the Chiefs’ 32-yard line trailing 19-17, the plan was for quarterback Aidan O’Connell to take a snap to burn more time before throwing the ball. and send kicker Daniel Carlson was tagged out for the 50-yard game-winner, Pierce said after the game. Carlson had previously missed three field goal attempts of 56, 55 and 58 yards.
But the Raiders possibly could have used more time off the clock a play earlier, when O’Connell spiked the ball relatively early in the play clock.
Instead, after leaving the huddle late and with the game clock winding down, O’Connell, in shotgun, wasn’t looking when rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball after being tagged by right guard Dylan Parham. The ball bounced off O’Connell’s upper right arm, and as he attempted to lunge at it on the frozen grass, the ball bounced off right tackle DJ Glaze’s left heel. Chiefs’ linebacker Nick Bolton recovered the fumble.
O’Connell, who passed for a career-high 340 yards with two touchdowns, and Powers-Johnson, who made his first start at center with O’Connell at quarterback, took the blame for the play.
“It’s completely my fault,” O’Connell said.
“We didn’t fall short,” Powers-Johnson said. “I fell short.”
Adding to the chaos, an official ran toward the scrum signaling a false start by the Raiders. That would have penalized them five yards and made it a 55-yard field goal attempt, but Las Vegas would have kept possession.
Instead, after the referees convened, referee Clay Martin announced that the penalty was for an illegal shift, so Kansas City refused to receive the ball.
And the Raiders lost their eighth straight game to fall to 2-10 on the season.
Pierce would not comment on how the penalty was assessed and explained it immediately after the game. But in the video conference with reporters Saturday, Pierce said, “We heard a whistle on our sideline,” which would have nullified the play.
When asked if the Raiders would voice their opinion to the NFL, Pierce shrugged.
“Yeah, I mean, like we normally do, we do that every game,” he said. “We usually ask three to five questions and then we’ll get a letter within 24 to 36 hours and we’ll read it and learn from it.”
