Josh McDaniels decision-making under fire as Raiders whiff vs. Steelers

2023-09-25 12:27

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels had NFL Twitter in an uproar with his mindboggling late-game decision-making in a loss to the Steelers.

Josh McDaniels had to wait a decade to get another head coaching opportunity after flaming out with the Broncos. He's just not doing a particularly great job of proving he deserved a second chance from the Las Vegas Raiders.

On Sunday Night Football, McDaniels' Raiders were trying to pull off a daring fourth-quarter comeback when they were faced with a dilemma. Down by eight and facing a fourth-and-five from the Steelers 29-yard line with just over three minutes to play, Las Vegas had to decide whether or not to kick a field goal to cut the deficit to five.

McDaniels somewhat controversial opted to kick the field goal...and got bailed out when the Steelers committed a penalty to extend the drive.

Then the Raiders found themselves in a similar situation with a fourth-and-four from the Steelers eight-yard line with just over two minutes to play. And again McDaniels infuriated NFL Twitter by opting to kick the field goal.

What was Josh McDaniels thinking? NFL Twitter slams Raiders head coach

It's tough to defend McDaniels on this one. The Raiders weren't down by two possessions. Either way, they needed a touchdown. The field goal didn't change the fact that they'd need to get the ball back and make it into the endzone.

"We needed multiple possessions," McDaniels said after the game, per Paul Gutierrez.

McDaniels needs to explain his math because eight points is certainly a one-possession game.

The first field goal attempt made more sense since there were still over three minutes to play. But the second created the exact same outcome for the drive with more time drained off the clock.

The most likely outcome for kicking the field goal there would be to get the ball back with 30 seconds on the clock at best. And that's exactly what happened. The Raiders offense was practically out of time by the time they got possession.

Jimmy Garoppolo's chances in one play from inside the 10 plus a two-point conversion over felt a whole lot more advantageous than Garoppolo leading the Raiders offense down the field for a touchdown with no timeouts and hardly any time on the clock.