In Week 18, the Raiders are competing for their last game against the Broncos in the hopes of winning to move up to a respectable 8-9 record and possibly secure the employment of interim head coach Antonio Pierce for the upcoming campaign. After taking Jimmy Garoppolo’s place, rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell has also performed admirably, but he is ultimately dissatisfied with the Raiders’ season.
“Throughout it, there’s been good and bad,” O’Connell said, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Adam Hill. “I think I’m more so just disappointed that we didn’t win more games. I think that’s what ultimately will be what hurts the most is not being able to pull out some of the games that I think we could have won.”
“We’ve been in every single game, and so it’s been frustrating to not be able to go win some of those games, even coming down to the last drive,” O’Connell continued. “So, that’s kind of the scar tissue that hurts. Obviously, we’ve had some good wins, but yeah, I think the lack of capitalizing on opportunities in late drives and stuff like that, I think that’s what I’m thinking about the most.”
O’Connell is correct; aside from their 31-17 Week 12 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders are 4-4 since head coach Josh McDaniels was fired after a Week 8 loss to the Detroit Lions. Towards the end of the season, Las Vegas suffered losses of three to the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings and seven to the Miami Dolphins.
The Raiders could finally have a strong base to build on for the future if they defeat the Broncos in Week 18 and end up with a winning record under Antonio Pierce. There’s a good probability that both Pierce and Aidan O’Connell will be back in 2024.
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