One Play Proved the Raiders Still Have Some Fight Left

With the Las Vegas Raiders in the running for the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, many want the team to tank. However, a play call at a pivotal point in Sunday's game proved that is not in the team's plans.

Dec 25, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Las Vegas Raiders punter AJ Cole (6) runs the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs on a fake kick play during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Nearly everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the Las Vegas Raiders this season. The team has sustained numerous injuries and their best player on offense unexpectedly asked to be traded, shortly after the season started.

The Raiders are a team filled with many young players on it. The team has had many reasons they could point to as to why the season has gone the way it has, as they have had every opportunity to quit on this season but has not done so.

This could be seen in their playcalling against the Denver Broncos, when the Raiders decided to run a fake punt. It was the perfect play call at the perfect moment, as it energized the whole team and the stadium.

Punter AJ Cole's completion to linebacker Divine Deablo gave the Raiders a first down and extended a drive to the Raiders to get even more rest for their defense. The fake punt call was proof the Raiders have not given up on the season.

"Yeah, listen, we worked on a lot of ball drills when I was a linebacker coach with him, so that was good to see. More importantly, I was proud of AJ Cole. I think that was his first career pass and when I first got here last year, we started talking about fakes and stuff like that. He was not one of the guys recommended to throw the ball. Just let him kick it. And there's been some throws in practice where we were questioning it. 

“But , man, about as good as we can execute the play from top down to be honest. Those guys did a good job getting lined up and obviously giving us an opportunity. Let's talk about our special teams, right? Really good job by Dylan [Laube], right? We got 10 points from our special teams. We got that big return, got the ball at the 40-yard line, that was a touchdown.

"Then we get the fake punt by [Divine] Deablo that gave us another field goal. So, yesterday, you obviously saw that we threw the kitchen sink at them, and we're going to continue to do that throughout. We're going to fight for every game and keep trying to win."

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