In the third quarter of Las Vegas’ matchup against Kansas City on Sunday, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak made a choice.
Matt Gay had sent a 41-yard field goal through the uprights, making the score 16-10, Las Vegas. But the Chiefs had lined up with too many players on one side of the ball for an illegal formation.
So, Kubiak elected to accept the penalty and go for it on fourth-and-2 from Kansas City’s 18.
But the problem was the Raiders didn’t convert, as Kirk Cousins’ pass to Ashton Jeanty was broken up and fell incomplete.
While the Raiders ended up losing 30-27, that choice to take three points off the board was far from the only reason for the ultimate result.
“[O]bviously, there’s a point there where I took three points off the board, and we were going to be aggressive going into the game,” Kubiak said postgame. “I don’t regret it. I regret not getting it.”
Kubiak later reiterated that he knew “we were going to be aggressive, and that was part of the game plan.”
The Raiders have played well to get to their 3-1 record on the season, and Kubiak has made some strong coaching choices. Even if this choice didn’t work out, it doesn’t mean that Kubiak should change his process moving forward.