Raiders’ Antonio Pierce says team ‘heard a whistle’ ahead of game-deciding botched snap in loss to Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce is speaking out just over 24 hours after his team suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday.

Pierce, who is in his first full season as the Raiders head coach, told members of the media that the Raiders believed referees had blown a whistle moments before the ill-fated fumble on the poorly timed snap. In the case of a whistle, the play in question would have been ruled dead.

Pierce also noted that the Raiders intend to submit video evidence in support of the claim to the NFL office for further review.

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After the Raiders defense forced the Chiefs to punt with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Las Vegas quickly managed to get in position to attempt a game-winning field goal. But the Raiders had a costly miscue on third down from the Kansas City 38-yard line with just 15 seconds remaining.

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The Raiders center prematurely snapped the ball as quarterback Aidan O’Connell surveyed the Chiefs defense. The ball bounced off O’Connell and onto the turf. The Raiders signal caller was not able to corral the botched snap, and it was recovered by the Chiefs. 

Referees did throw a flag on the play and penalized the Raiders for an illegal shift, but Kansas City decided to decline the penalty since they recovered the fumble. The NFL did stipulate that a false start would have been assessed if the clock was running at the time of the mishandled snap.

Patrick Mahomes then took a knee to allow the final seconds to tick off the clock.

O’Connell shouldered the blame for the mishap on the crucial play.

“It’s completely my fault,” the second-year said. “I was looking out to the right to make sure the guys were set and I started clapping. In my head I was thinking, signal the ball to get the ball, but when I start clapping it tells Jackson to basically snap the ball. Jackson did exactly what he should have done and I clapped too early.

“… Super tough, but there’s really no one to blame but myself. So, that’s probably the hardest part to swallow.”

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The win over the Raiders clinched a playoff spot for the Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Raiders will try and regroup when they travel to Tampa Bay next week for a matchup against the Buccaneers.

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