The story of the 2024 Chiefs season has been one of close escapes and Black Friday’s chapter might be the most improbable one yet.
The Raiders forced a punt down 19-17 with two minutes left to play and drove from their 8-yard-line to the Chiefs’ 32-yard line as the seconds ticked off the clock. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell spiked the ball to stop the clock on a second down with 15 seconds left and the Raiders lined up to snap the ball one more time before presumably trying a game-winning field goal.
That’s when disaster struck. Rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball before the Raiders were set, the ball bounced off of O’Connell’s chest and the Chiefs recovered to seal their 11th win of the season. The win makes the Chiefs the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth.
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce should be grilled on why O’Connell spiked the ball with so much time left on the clock and he’ll likely be questioned about using a timeout to try a 58-yard field goal with under three minutes to play. Daniel Carlson had already missed 55- and 56-yard tries and missed badly to give the Chiefs the ball near midfield. Unless Pierce was trying to hammer home his mid-week assertion that the Raiders are the worst team in the league, it’s hard to imagine making either call and making both of them really hurt the Raiders’ chances of winning the game.
The Chiefs got out to a 16-3 lead on a Justin Watson touchdown catch and three Matthew Wright field goals, but the Raiders erased it with a pair of long touchdown passes late in the third quarter and on the first play of the fourth. The Chiefs regained the lead on another Wright field goal that set the stage for the wild final moments.
O’Connell was 23-of-35 for 340 yards in his return from a right thumb injury. He was sacked three times and had a couple of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage before the ill-fated decision to try the 58-yard field goal.
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers had 10 catches for 140 yards and a score while Jakobi Myers had six catches for 97 yards and Tre Tucker reeled in a 58-yard score. They also got a good game from running back Sincere McCormick and a strong effort from their defense, so this loss will sting even more than most of the other ones on their growing list of defeats.
The Raiders have been officially eliminated from playoff contention. They will be in Tampa next weekend.
The Chiefs struggled to protect Patrick Mahomes all game and moved left guard Joe Thuney to left tackle to replace Wanya Morris down the stretch. It didn’t do much to help and the team will likely be working overtime to get the recently signed D.J. Humphries ready to go.
Next Sunday night brings a home date with the Chargers that will carry a lot of significance in the AFC playoff picture. Given their weekly issues, it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs patching everything together by then but signs that it can happen would be welcome.
