Raiders fall short at the goal line against Chiefs in Pierce's first game as head coach
Raiders interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree did not shy away from the fact that he planned to use quarterback Justin Fields as a runner more than his predecessors did, replacing the fired Josh McDaniels and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi.
Fields rushed for a season high 164 yards but needed two more yards on two fourth down plays to complete the upset of the Kansas City Chiefs, falling short at the goal line in the Raiders 34-27 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday.
It was interim head coach Antonio Pierce's first game as a head coach, leading the Raiders to an early 10-7 lead following Fields' 30-yard touchdown pass to Tre Tucker. Tucker erupted in McDaniels' offense last season but had struggled to find a connection with Fields. The Chiefs would tie the game at the half thanks to a Rashee Rice touchdown and a Harrison Butker field goal before the half.
The Chiefs dominated the third quarter as the emotion filled week seemed to have caused a bit of an adrenaline dump for the Raiders who went four and out on their first drive and then fumbled the ball on their own 13-yard line on a Fields' option play. Patrick Mahomes would find Noah Gray for a touchdown three plays later to take the ten point lead.
The Raiders found their groove afterwards with Fields leading a nine play drive that ended with a third and goal completion to Tory Horton for the score. Horton played an elevated role in the Raiders offense due to the trade of Davante Adams to the Cowboys, finishing the game with XXXX
They would force a punt on the next Chiefs drive, tying the game on a 36-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson with 8:41 remaining.
It would be Isaiah Pacheco's turn to find his rhythm, ripping off a 42-yard run to take the lead with 4:33 remaining. The Raiders would go for it on 4th and 1 from the Kansas City 31-yard line on a designed quarterback run that the Chiefs blew up. The Raiders would get another crack at it after a Kansas City punt and on 4th and 1 from their own 30-yard line, Fields found Horton for the 66-yard pickup with 21 seconds left.
Kansas City would force a fourth and goal from the one-yard line where the Raiders went back to a similar designed quarterback run that was stopped in the backfield to seal the victory with seven seconds left.
Scoring Summary
Quarter 1 Daniel Carlson, 21 Yd FG (8:35) Rashee Rice 3 Yd pass from Patrick Mahomes (5:05)
Quarter 2 Tre Tucker 30 Yd pass from Justin Fields (14:48) Rashee Rice 6 Yd pass form Patrick Mahomes (11:11) Damien Harris, 5 Yd run (5:31) Harrison Butker, 28 Yd FG (1:16)
Quarter 3 Harrison Butker, 50 Yd FG (13:30) Noah Gray 6 Yd pass from Patrick Mahomes (5:06)
Quarter 4 Tory Horton 7 Yd pass from Justin Fields (14:53) Daniel Carlson, 35 Yd FG (8:37) Isiah Pacheco, 42 Yd run (4:25)
Option plays stopped dead in its tracks not once but twice on crucial 4th downs
A bit inside baseball: in order to make the coaching change impact gameplay, I went with the Bears playbook post McDaniels to mimic a coach leaning into Fields' strengths. I'm still getting used to the plays but I realized that QB power doesn't work if a linebacker is lined up in the A gaps but because of my house rules, Fields cannot audible due to his low AWR and I was out of timeouts i considered taking the delay of game but said fuck it
Chicago's youth movement has them set up for the future and the present
The Chicago Bears made the decision to move on from quarterback Justin Fields in the offseason, trading the former first round quarterback for a first, second and third round pick from the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Bears drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the acquired first round pick, who has led the team to a 5-1 record and atop the NFC North. The team's leading rusher is a rookie in Treveyon Henderson who the Bears drafted in the second round and outside linebacker Dallas Turner, the team's first pick of the draft, leads the team with seven sacks. The team's leader in tackles for loss? Their second of three first round picks, defensive tackle Maason Smith.
Add in free agent acquisitions Christian Wilkins (4 sacks), Jeremy Chinn and Chidobe Awuzie (1 interception each) and it's easy to see why Chicago has taken a big step forward under first year head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 7 NFL Results 23 - 14 --------- 27 - 34--------- 10 - 24--------- 14 - 24 21 - 10 ---------34 - 28 --------- 14 - 23---------20 - 17 07 - 27---------21 - 06 ---------31 - 20 --------- 10 - 34 24 - 12 --------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week QB Michael Penix Jr: 34 of 50, 382 yards, 5 touchdowns OLB Dallas Turner: 10 tackles, 4 sacks QB Justin Fields: 22 of 31, 229 yards, 2 touchdowns, 134 rushing yards DE Justin Simmons: 6 tackles, 3 sacks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Injuries DE George Karlaftis: 5 weeks (collarbone) OLB Willie Gay: 5 weeks (knee) TE Kyle Pitts: 2 weeks (knee) T Taylor Lewan: Season (leg) HB Aaron Jones: 3 weeks (elbow) C David Andrews: 5 weeks (back) HB Najee Harris: 4 weeks (elbow) HB Will Shipley: Season (foot) HB Dameon Pierce: 6 weeks (bicep)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Transactions
Houston Texans sign CB Steven Nelson (1yr/$2.02m)
Raiders trade Jakobi Meyers to Chargers as preseason sensation Mario Williams activated from IR
In their second interdivisional trade of the last ten days, the Las Vegas Raiders have traded receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Los Angeles Chargers for linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr.
Despite playing the most snaps among skill position players, Meyers had struggled to get targets with Justin Fields at quarterback, catching just six passes this season after finishing last year with 52 receptions which was already the second lowest reception total of his career. Meyers joins a Chargers team that lost its top two receivers to free agency in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
The Raiders traded away linebacker Divine Deablo last week to Denver, leaving a hole at inside linebacker. Kyle Van Noy got the start in the Raiders base defense after primarily playing on the edge prior to. Murray Jr. will likely take over that role once he's acclimated to the defense.
The team also activated rookie receiver Mario Williams to the active roster, demoting linebacker Amari Burney to the practice squad to clear the roster space. Williams was a star in the preseason prior to suffering a collarbone injury which caused him to land on IR. He figures to have a prominent role on special teams right away and in the offense down the line.
those pieces left over from McDaniels slowly moving on out. Damien Harris next.
I thought about it but without Laviska, need Harris to sustain this offense. We can still make the playoffs if we make a run, need to probably hit nine wins
Week 8 Preview: at Denver Broncos
Record: 5-1, 1st AFC West
Head Coach: Steve Wilks
Offensive Coordinator: Adam Stenvich (West Coast Zone Run)
Defensive Coordinator: Sean Desai (4-3 Cover 3)
Daniel Carlson, 21 Yd FG (8:35)
Rashee Rice 3 Yd pass from Patrick Mahomes (5:05)
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HB Dameon Pierce: 6 weeks (bicep)
u got fleeced taking fields off their hands