Raiders coach Pete Carroll made an odd decision to kick a field goal when trailing by 10 points with five seconds remaining in Sunday’s game against the Broncos. Daniel Carlson made a 46-yard kick as time expired, making the final score 24-17.
Making the decision even more curious, the Broncos were 7.5-point favorites, and the over/under was 40.5.
Carroll was hoping for enough time to kick the field goal and attempt an onside kick, but even then, barring a penalty, time would have expired before the Raiders went back on offense. So, frankly, his explanation made as much sense as his decision to kick the field goal.
“I knew it was going to look stupid, like you couldn’t figure out why we were doing it,” Carroll said Monday, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN. “But there was a clear thought of what we were trying to get down there, just to take it down to the very last click. That might not be good enough for you, I understand that, but I think you can see what we were trying to do, but it just didn’t work out.”
Carroll said he does not — and cannot — concern himself with public opinion.
“I can’t bend and twist and go with whatever the public sentiment is, or one person’s sentiment for that matter, regardless of who it is,” Carroll said. “I just can’t do that and do my job the right way to the best of my ability.”
We don’t yet know who will win the AFC West.
But with Sunday night’s result, we do know another team that won’t.
With their loss to the Texans, the Chiefs have been mathematically eliminated from divisional contention. That ends a run of nine consecutive divisional titles for Kansas City.
The streak started in 2016, two seasons before Patrick Mahomes took over as the team’s starting quarterback.
At 6-7, the Chiefs can finish the season no better than 10-7. Denver won its 11th game of the season on Sunday, which means the club cannot finish any worse than the Chiefs.
Kansas City’s divisional streak is the second-longest in NFL history behind the Patriots’ streak of 11 consecutive AFC East titles from 2009-2019.
The Chiefs are currently No. 10 in the conference and will likely need a lot of help to just make it to the 2025 postseason. Kansas City will face the Chargers at home, the Titans on the road, the Broncos at home on Christmas Day, and the Raiders on the road to finish the year.
The Broncos didn’t clinch a playoff spot on Sunday, but they did clinch a significant tiebreaker advantage by beating the Raiders 24-17 in Las Vegas.
If the season ends with the Broncos and the Patriots tied for the best record in the conference, the Broncos would be the top seed because they swept the Raiders and the Patriots lost at home to Pete Carroll’s 2-11 team in Week 1.
Both teams are now 11-2 and the Broncos will move on to a home game against the Packers in Week 15.
The Broncos sewed up the win by grinding down the Raiders over the course of the afternoon. Their three scoring drives covered more than 28 minutes of game action and they wound up possessing the ball for nearly 40 minutes of the win.
Bo Nix ran for an eight-yard touchdown to cap a 14-play drive to open the game and rookie RJ Harvey closed out another one with a three-yard score in the third quarter. The Broncos’ longest drive was a 19-play odyssey in the fourth quarter that ended with a Wil Lutz field goal. The other Broncos points came on a 48-yard punt return by Marvin Mims in the second quarter of the game.
Nix was 31-of-38 for 212 yards and he completed passes to 11 different targets over the course of the game. Harvey had 16 carries for 75 yards to help the Broncos remain in control of the game.
The Raiders were able to answer Nix’s touchdown run with one of their own on the final play of the first quarter, but they only picked up two first downs over their next four possessions. They put together a better drive to close out the third quarter, but quarterback Geno Smith left the game before the fourth quarter with right hand and shoulder injuries.
Kenny Pickett threw a touchdown to wide receiver Shedrick Jackson in the fourth quarter. It was the first NFL touch for Jackson, who is the great-nephew of Raiders legend Bo Jackson. If Smith is out beyond Sunday, Pickett will be in line to start against one of his former teams in Philadelphia next Sunday.
Raiders quarterback Geno Smith remained in the game after injuring his right hand on a hit early in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Broncos, but he went back to the locker room before the fourth quarter got underway.
Smith exited with the Raiders facing a third-and-goal from the Denver 7-yard line and Kenny Pickett completed a two-yard pass to wide receiver Jack Bech on his first play. Pickett was not able to complete a pass to tight end Brock Bowers on fourth down, however, and the Broncos remain up 21-7.
CBS reports that Smith is being evaluated for a right shoulder injury as well as the right hand injury.
Smith was 13-of-21 for 116 yards and a touchdown before heading to the locker room. He also took three sacks in the first half and initially got hurt on a hit by Broncos defensive lineman Zack Allen on a pass attempt.
The Broncos’ bid to stay on top of the AFC playoff picture is off to a good start.
Bo Nix ran for a touchdown to cap a long opening drive and Marvin Mims returned a punt 48 yards for a score in the second quarter to give Denver a 14-7 lead over the Raiders in Las Vegas.
Nix’s score came after a 14-play game-opening drive ate up nearly nine minutes of the first quarter. Nix is also 16-of-20 for 110 yards through the air after 30 minutes of play.
The Raiders answered with a Geno Smith touchdown pass to tight end Brock Bowers, but three sacks of Smith helped keep their offense from finding any other success before the end of the half.
The third of those sacks came on a fourth down with three seconds left in the half. The Broncos passed on a 62-yard field goal try in order to try a Hail Mary that fell incomplete.
