Antonio Pierce commits costly late-game coaching blunder in Raiders loss

When Matt Eberflus failed to call a timeout and let rookie quarterback Caleb Williams flail in the final seconds of the Chicago Bears' 23-20 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions, the coaching malpractice was criticized and dissected by NFL pundits. It ultimately cost Eberflus his job.

Week 13 of the NFL season is shaping up to be the week of curious coaching decisions after Antonio Pierce joined Eberflus with his own head-scratching blunder.

Pierce had his Las Vegas Raiders in position to end a seven-game losing streak against the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday, but a miscommunication between quarterback Aidan O'Connell and center Jackson Powers-Johnson led to an errant snap and fumble that was recovered by the Chiefs. The Raiders didn't get to attempt the winning field goal as K.C. survived for a 19-17 victory.

In his postgame press conference, Pierce revealed what he had planned when Vegas reached the Chiefs' 32-yard line with 15 seconds left. He said he wasn't going to try to gain more yards to give Daniel Carlson a shorter kick.

Here's the problem: If Pierce had no intention of moving the ball closer, then there was no need to even call another play.

After completing a 7-yard pass to Ameer Abdullah, O'Connell could've worked more time off the clock and spiked the ball with a few seconds remaining. Running another play risked the chance of committing a turnover. The mixed signals and ensuing fumble ended the Raiders' hopes of upsetting the rival Chiefs.

"Nah, we were gonna snap the ball and just throw the ball out of bounds. Ball's at the 32-yard line and kill four, five more seconds and kick a 49-yard field goal," Pierce told reporters.

O'Connell, the second-year QB, put the turnover on him. "There's nobody to blame but myself," he said.

Powers-Johnson, the rookie center, said it was his fault. "We didn't come up short. I came up short," he said.

Powers-Johnson, the rookie center, said it was his fault. "We didn't come up short. I came up short," he said.

The truth is that neither O'Connell or Powers-Johnson are culpable. The onus is squarely on Pierce for employing faulty, end-of-game logic.

Managing last-minute situations is part of the job for NFL head coaches. As Eberflus and Pierce showed on consecutive days, the decisive situations can be made unnecessarily more difficult by those in charge.