Aidan O’Connell: Raiders’ botched snap is ‘totally my fault’

The Raiders were already within field goal range and had a chance to upset the Chiefs when a botched snap on Friday’s final play denied them the opportunity to send their kicker onto the field. Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell says he was the one who signaled the snap and that makes him the culprit.

Although there were rumors that the blame fell on Raiders rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson for grabbing the ball when O’Connell wasn’t ready, O’Connell says that’s not the case.

“Time was running out, I was trying to get the guys lined up and we were just going to throw the ball out of bounds, let the clock run out, get to fourth down and kick the field goal. “It’s totally my fault,” said O’Connell. “I looked to my right to make sure the guys were ready and started clapping. In my head I was thinking to signal the ball to get the ball, but when I start clapping it tells Jackson to basically grab the ball. So Jackson did exactly what he should have done and I clapped too soon. That’s how football bounces sometimes. It didn’t go according to our wishes. So hard, but there’s really no one to blame but myself. That’s probably the hardest part to digest.”

It’s commendable that O’Connell isn’t pointing fingers, but the reality is that the Raiders coaching staff could have handled it better. O’Connell would not have been in this position if the Raiders had had all but a few seconds to shoot the ball on the previous play, and the Raiders coaches could have communicated better with O’. Connell that this is exactly what they had to do. O’Connell isn’t the only one who deserves the blame.