What fans are saying about Josh McDaniels’ decision to go for two in Raiders’ loss

Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels felt it was the “right call” to go for a two-point conversion with about 4 minutes left in Monday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Las Vegas had pulled within a point on Derek Carr’s touchdown pass to Davante Adams.

Instead of attempting a game-tying extra point, the Raiders called a play for running back Josh Jacobs, who took the handoff from Carr and was stopped short for a failed conversion.

In the end, it cost the Raiders a 30-29 loss to the Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Many on social media were split on the decision to go for a two-point conversion.

Hall of Famer and former Raiders star Charles Woodson disapproved of the decision to go for two.

McDaniels had an explanation.

“Felt like in that situation, we hadn’t really ... they kind of had momentum offensively, obviously, in the second half,” he said.

“We had a play we felt really good about. We thought we would get a look that gives us a shot at it, for sure. We had a chance. We had a fair fight at it. They played it a little better than we did and (we) gave us an opportunity to take the lead there, then maybe put pressure on them when they had the ball.

“Nothing more, nothing less. Trying to be aggressive and win the game. I know it’s four and a half or whatever the time was, but our team felt good about it. Just felt that was the right call at the right time.”

The game probably would’ve gone to overtime, but McDaniels’ decision to go for two ultimately kept the Raiders from being 2-3 heading into the bye week.

Instead, they are 1-4.

Looking back

It’s not the first questionable play calling by McDaniels this season.

The Raiders were up 20-0 over the Arizona Cardinals at halftime, but threw the ball in the fourth quarter instead of feeding the ball to Jacobs to run the clock.

The Raiders and Cardinals ended up going to overtime, ultimately won by Arizona 29-23.

While there is nothing wrong with being aggressive in a game, better judgment on play calling needs to be made after the bye week.

Bad breaks for the Raiders

The Raiders also had other misfortunes.

Malcolm Koonce was called for a holding penalty on a missed field goal. The Chiefs ended up getting a touchdown out of it.

On the final Raiders’ play, Hunter Renfrow ran into Davante Adams in Chiefs territory on a pass that fell incomplete.

“I had a little collision with Hunter on the left side,” Adams said. “I didn’t see anything after the release and got back vertical, we ended up running into each other. I don’t even know where the ball went or nothing.”

Adams said he agreed with the decision to go for a two-point conversion.

“We were all-in on it,” he said. “You got to be for it. That’s their job to make the call. I was fine with it because I feel we had a shot to put it in.”

The Raiders’ losses are each by less than six points.

Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby admits it’s tough.

“We know we’re getting better,” he said. “We see it and we feel it on the field. We’ve got to take everything with a grain of salt, whether if we won this game tonight. We lost unfortunately, but we got to get better from the film and keep pushing forward.”

Getting wins is imperative for the Raiders after the bye week when the face the Houston Texans at Allegiant Stadium

For that to happen, McDaniels needs to give his players a chance to win games instead of throwing games away.

That begins with McDaniels making smarter decisions.