Another day, another coaching mistake prevents a lesser team from upsetting a member of the NFL’s elite.

On Thursday, it was Bears coach Matt Eberflus who missed a chance to force overtime against the Lions, who have lost just once. On Friday, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce mishandled an opportunity to knock the Chiefs down twice on defense (and also to a loss).

The problems began for the Raiders when Pierce burned a timeout due to indecision with 2:21 left. After ejecting the punt team while facing fourth-and-11 from the Chiefs’ 40 and down by two points, Pierce had a change of heart. So he called a timeout and opted for a 58-yard field goal attempt from Daniel Carlson. The kick was not good.

To their credit, the Raiders forced the Chiefs to punt. Las Vegas got the ball back on its eight-yard line with 1:56 left. And they moved the ball into position for another attempt to win the game.

Things went wrong when quarterback Aidan O’Connell completed a seven-yard pass to running back Ameer Abdullah. He put the ball at the KC 32.

Out of timeouts (thanks to the one they had lost), quarterback Aidan O’Connell rushed to the line and threw the ball with 15 seconds left.

This was the mistake that deprived the Raiders of a chance to win. They could have reduced the clock to three or four seconds before the snap and the spike. This approach would have ensured that the Chiefs would have had no chance to put themselves in position for their own game-winning field goal attempt.

Then came the mistake that made the first worse. Instead of attempting a 50-yard field goal, the Raiders ran another play. The snap came early, O’Connell failed to catch it, and the Chiefs recovered. Game over.

After the play was over, Pierce explained the reasoning for the botched final play.

“We were going to snap the ball and really just throw it out of bounds and just – the ball is on the 32-yard line. We were going to kill four or five more seconds and score a 49-yard field goal,” Pierce told reporters.

Later during the press conference, this decision was again emphasized.

“Yes, I answered a minute ago,” Pierce said. “I was just trying to throw the ball. . . . So we were going to throw the ball, waste four or five more seconds and score a field goal.

The explanation makes no sense. They could have wasted as many seconds as they wanted before O’Connell scored the ball on the previous play.

This is another failure of situational football. In the moments after Abdullah’s tackle in the 32nd minute, O’Connell needed to know that the strategy at that moment was to use as much time as possible, so that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes doesn’t stand a chance. do Mahomes things.

After the ball was scored, the Raiders decided to reduce Mahomes’ window by burning four or five more seconds. And look what happened.

Although different from the fiasco at the end of the Bears-Lions game, there is a common thread. Coaches and players must be ready for all situations. They need to think clearly and decisively when it comes to time management.

The final play, which became the deciding turnover, was unnecessary if O’Connell had the presence of mind to line up on the ball, milk the clock and score it with just enough time to try for the basket. Frankly, it’s Pierce’s fault for not having O’Connell ready to do what needed to be done at the most important moment of the game.