Raiders trapped by own fears, failures in late-game decision vs. Dolphins

Imagine having the football at the 1-yard line, trailing the opponent by a single point with just over a minute remaining in the game. That scenario should fill one with confidence.

But not for coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders. The team decided to take a knee, winding the clock down as far as possible before kicking what should have been the game-winning field goal against the Dolphins. It wasn’t, of course, and Las Vegas lost, placing its record at a disappointing 7-8.

Taking the knee and kicking the field goal should have worked, sure. But it didn’t, and Gruden’s decision revealed that the Raiders are still dominated by their own past failures; they’re more fearful of getting bit than confident that they won’t.

As the Raiders inched closer to the goal line, down that single point, two factors rose slowly to the forefront: Las Vegas’s terrible defense and the inability of the offense to score a touchdown in the Red Zone.

First of all, Gruden said his mind was on the loss to the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium, when the Raiders scored a touchdown late in the game only to watch Kansas City notch a game-winning TD in less than 1:43. The coach knew that his defense, though it was in the midst of a decent game, could not hold the Dolphins for long. Thus, the knee was taken. Sound strategy, though it’s based on a weakness that bit the Raiders anyway.

Secondly, it’s possible that the team’s mounting struggles in the Red Zone blinded Gruden from the possibility of trying to score a touchdown at all. They had been trying to do so all game, only to kick multiple short field goals to that point. In a scenario that seemingly wasn’t considered, Las Vegas could have taken the knee and then still tried for a touchdown.

Sure, it would have been risky. The Raiders were down a point. If they failed, the game would be over. But that’s not the moment to think about failure. To gain one yard and put the game away is usually a dream-scenario for a coach. For Gruden and the Raiders, however, it was a nightmare that caused much twisting and turning, all for a national audience.

And their worst fears materialized. The Raiders made what could easily be considered the right play in taking a knee and kicking, But so much thought — literally plotting around your own fears — is rarely good for the soul of a club. The defense merely did what it was feared they would. If Gruden really wants to change the direction of the losing franchise he’s currently building, he’d do well to simply score as many touchdowns as possible — in any situation — and live with those results.

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