LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden acknowledged that memories of scoring too early against the Kansas City Chiefs on November 22 and the visions of Patrick Mahomes leading a last-minute victory at Allegiant Stadium may have affected his moves at the end of the defeat on the last second of Saturday night, 26-25 to the Miami Dolphins.
Instead of giving a touchdown, the Dolphins seemed willing to surrender at the end of the game, the Raiders chose to control the time and cause the running back Josh Jacobs to fall on the 1 yard line on purpose, before quarterback Derek Carr a knee on the third descent. They settled for a 19-yard field goal to give Las Vegas a short-lived two-point advantage.
“The move was to eliminate all the clock and all timeouts and put them on their backs against the wall with 19 seconds left,” said Gruden. “I don’t regret it. I didn’t want to [Dolphins quarterback Ryan] Fitzpatrick to have the ball. … I didn’t want him to be in a situation of four down. He’s a gunslinger; he was hot. That’s all I can say. I don’t regret it one bit. I only regret the results.
“But there are 19 seconds left, on your own 25-yard line, with no timeouts? I have called the shots a long time ago. The likelihood of achieving this is remote.”
Unfortunately for Gruden, the Raiders’ defense imploded the path that followed.
On the first down, the Raiders ‘cornerback, Damon Arnette, simply let the Dolphins’ wide receiver, Mack Hollins, pass through the left sideline, unimpeded. Fitzpatrick, with the Raiders’ defensive side, Arden Key twisting his head back, launched a deep ball that Hollins passed under and, with defender Isaiah Johnson arriving late, towed for a 34-yard collection.
After applying Key’s 15-yard face mask penalty, the Dolphins arrived on the field. Two clicks later, Jason Sanders’ 44-yard field goal with 1 second left was the winner.
“Unfortunately, they made a desperate move,” said Gruden, “and the penalty was horrible.
“Fitzpatrick gives his guys chances that most defenders don’t take advantage of. He’s willing to play football on the field through tight windows … He got us.”
Carr, still feeling the effects of a tense groin that left him aside nine nights earlier, had the Raiders in a position to win – even if, limping, he hadn’t given the Raiders their best chance of winning.
The Raiders were 0 out of 10 in their third defeat against the Dolphins.
“This could be the most difficult,” said Carr, who is in his seventh season with the Raiders and has seen many highlights and low points with the team. “This is difficult. It is a difficult way to get out, especially with all the excitement of the week for me.”
Carr had 21 of 34 passes for 336 yards and an 85-yard catch and run touchdown for Nelson Agholor.
“I’m sick for our organization,” said Carr. “I’m sick for our defense … My heart feels bad for our fans.”
Carr said he agreed to Gruden’s playcall 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 did absolutely perfect,” said Carr of the last trip. “I don’t regret it. You take all the breaks from them. You take all the time off the clock … You just hope to win that game.
“The way the coach handled it was perfect, his plays were perfect. His communication – perfect. The only thing we regret is that it didn’t end with a victory.”
In five trips within the Miami 25-yard line, the Raiders managed only a touchdown and four field goals. As the Associated Press noted, the Raiders have scored just two touchdowns in their last 13 complete attacks with Carr as a defender. They scored three TDs in six complete units behind the most mobile and healthy Marcus Mariota.
Since the Raiders scored a 1:43 touchdown to gain a three-point lead over the Chiefs in Week 11 – when Mahomes went on to launch a winning touchdown pass 75 seconds later – the Raiders are in a free fall. Las Vegas lost five out of six, including that loss to Kansas City, to see their record drop from 6-3 to 7-8.