Raiders' Josh McDaniels shares what his thoughts were during the final play
The Las Vegas Raiders may have just had the craziest ending to a game we have ever seen. The game literally ended in a way that no one expected or could have ever predicted. It would have been one thing if the Patriots threw a pick-six on a pass play. But, no, they threw a […]
The Las Vegas Raiders may have just had the craziest ending to a game we have ever seen. The game literally ended in a way that no one expected or could have ever predicted.
It would have been one thing if the Patriots threw a pick-six on a pass play. But, no, they threw a pick-six on a lateral, which happened to be a play that was not necessary at all.
A lot of times when something crazy like that happens, people want to hear what the coach thought at that moment because I'm sure the game plan for that final play didn't have anything about an intercepted lateral in it.
“Don't get tackled by the quarterback," McDaniels said his first thoughts were. "…It didn't seem like a lateral play to me when they handed the ball off to the back. So, when they handed it to the back, I thought, ‘Okay, tackle him and go to overtime.’
"And then when I saw the ball up in the air and then I saw Chandler [Jones] underneath it, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, we might have a chance at this.’ And then when he caught it, I saw Mac [Jones] was back there, and just hoping that he could avoid whatever effort Mac had to tackle him and then hopefully had enough juice left in his body to get to the end-zone."
This was truly one of the craziest things that have happened in a very long time, let alone the craziest thing that has happened in the 2022 season. This game had some playoff implications too, and the win kept the hopes alive, even if they are slim.
It seems that McDaniels was all of us at that very moment. I know I was feeling confused that the Patriots would even run the ball in the first place, then confused again that they would toss it back with the game tied, then scare the pass was going to get through, then excited it did get through, to the wrong team.
It was truly something that was crazy to experience.
You know what they say though, "just how we drew it up."
Featured Image Via Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
