There was no hesitation from the Raiders after wide receiver Davante Adams’ 48-yard touchdown pass cut the Chiefs’ lead to 30-29 with 4:27 left to play in Monday night’s game.
The offense stayed on the field and the Raiders went to take the lead on a two-point conversion. They chose to give the ball to running back Josh Jacobs on a night when he’d wind up with 154 rushing yards, but he wouldn’t make it to the end zone.
Jacobs was stopped short, which left the Raiders one point down and they would not make up that margin despite getting a defensive stop and moving the ball to midfield on their ensuing offensive possession. The outcome didn’t change the reaction to the decision to go for the win after Adams scored.
Adams said he was “all in” on the call and quarterback Derek Carr said he liked “being aggressive” on the road. Head coach Josh McDaniels noted the team’s inability to stop the Chiefs throughout the second half and ran “a play that we felt really good about” for Jacobs.
“That’s what we wanted,” Jacobs said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “We knew we was going to be in that situation. It’s crazy, all week we were talking about third-and-1s, fourth-and-1s, 2-point play. When I got the ball and the safety shot the hole, I knew it was going to be hairy. I really blame myself because I could have reached the ball over. I know we harp on not reaching the ball, but that was a situation where it wouldn’t have mattered if I did. So, I’ll just put that on my shoulders. I could have reached the ball over.”
Aggressiveness paid off for the Raiders in the first half with a 58-yard touchdown to Adams on a fourth down, but the game of inches didn’t go their way in the fourth.
