McDaniels on Kicking Late Field Goal Against Pittsburgh

The Las Vegas Raiders made a respectable effort at a comeback in their Week 3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it a few calls and plays late in the game ultimately nullified the come-from-behind effort.

With an opportunity to tie the game with a touchdown and a two-point conversion on fourth-and-four in the red zone with just under two and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Raiders decided to kick the field goal with hopes of getting the ball back with enough time to score again.

Las Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson would make the field goal, but the Silver and Black did not get the ball back until 12 seconds remained as they lost their home opener, 23-18.

"You have two choices there," Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels said when he addressed the media after the game. "You can try to make it a five-point game where you have an opportunity to win it with a touchdown if you get the ball back. Or you try to go for it there and then if you happen to convert, then you got to make the two-point conversion, all the rest of it. So, those are the decisions you've got to make.

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"I thought we did a decent job of putting ourselves in third down there the next series with the defense to try to have a play to get off the field and we just wouldn't handle that play very well."

Aside from allowing the Steelers offense to get the first down right before the two-minute warning, the defense had done its job to keep the Raiders in contention in the second half.

"I thought the defense hung in there," McDaniels said. "We made a bunch of stops there and tried to keep us within a couple scores, so eventually we punched it in and then it became a one-score game. And then we stopped them and it gave us the ball back. So, I don't have any issue with the effort or the intentions of the defense. Like I said, [they] gave us an opportunity to win the game. ... I don't question anything we tried to do defensively."

The Silver and Black return to the road next week in Inglewood, Calif., to play the Los Angeles Chargers (1-2) on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 4:05 p.m. EDT/1:05 p.m. PDT.

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