Raiders coach Josh McDaniels opted to kick a field goal down eight with just over two minutes left instead of going for it. The decision backfired in the loss to the Steelers.
Though they got the ball back on their own 15-yard line with 12 seconds left, it wouldn't matter as Pittsburgh cornerback Levi Wallace intercepted Raiders quarterback"No! No!" McDaniels answered emphatically when asked if going for the field goal showed a lack of confidence in his offense."You're going to need another possession anyway. It's not a lack of confidence. We went for it multiple times.
Fact is, with an underwhelming rushing game that ranks second-to-last behind the Steelers with 116 yards, and a passing game that has the third-fewest passing yards . Making matters worse for Las Vegas' rushing game was the fact the Steelers came into the game having allowed 386 yards on the ground through two games - worst in theMcDaniels tried to rationalize his decision.
"You have two choices there," he said."You try to make it a five-point game where you have an opportunity to win it with a touchdown if you get the ball back, or, you try to go for it there and if you happen to convert then you got to make the two-point conversion and all the rest of it.Perhaps because the NFL reigning rushing kinghas struggled to find his footing through three games, rushing for just 108 yards on 45 attempts, an average of 2.4 yards per carry.
In 2019, he ran for 228 yards and in 2020 he topped that with 252. After playing in only one game through the first three weeks of the 2021 season, he rushed for 192 yards by Week 3 last season. "I think the running game is a function of a lot of people doing their job well," McDaniels said"It was last year when he was the rushing champion, a lot of people did their job well, including him. And I don't feel like we're quite there yet, obviously. We haven't done a very good job of running the football for three games.""Those are plays obviously we don't want to make," McDaniels said.
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