Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell had the greatest QBR of any quarterback on Sunday. His development as a professional quarterback is ongoing.
The Las Vegas Raiders took an early lead over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Despite failing to maintain their lead, they were able to gain a better understanding of the type of quarterback they have in rookie Aidan O’Connell.
O’Connell concluded the game with the highest quarterback rating in the National Football League, with 248 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
The rookie quarterback stressed the importance of him and the offense maintaining momentum during games.
“You’ve got to be able to sustain,” O’Connell remarked. “You have to keep your intensity up, especially against a really good team that’s won a lot of games and won a lot of games by coming from behind.” It’s our responsibility to lock in on every drive, every play, and attempt to perform our job.
“You can’t be concerned about what’s happening on the other side of the ball, and the defense can’t be concerned about what we’re doing.” We must focus on our respective tasks while also doing our best to assist the team.”
In the first half against Kansas City, the Raiders converted five of their seven third-down attempts, but only two of their seven in the second half. Their inability to convert on third down in the second half hampered the offense’s rhythm.
O’Connell emphasized the importance of third downs in the rhythm of an attack.
“Yeah, I think it’s just converting on third downs,” stated O’Connell. “As I previously stated, when they have long drives, we must do a good job of keeping our defense off the field, sustaining drives, and getting ahead of, and staying ahead of, the sticks.”
“So it’s a mix of a lot of different things.” You must be able to run the ball, pass it, and execute. As we continue to discuss, there is a degree of sustaining that we need to improve on, which we must implement throughout practice and strive to do a good job of maintaining attention.
“I thought our offensive line did an outstanding job.” Kansas City throws a lot of different things at you, and they kept doing so throughout the game. They tossed new looks, looks we’ve seen before, and looks we haven’t seen before. As I already stated, compliments to our offensive line for working tirelessly to keep me upright, as well as to our teammates for their efforts.”
O’Connell’s victory was truly a team effort, as the offense committed no turnovers. Josh Jacobs carried for over 100 yards, as the offense moved out to a 14-0 lead over the Chiefs early on.
The outcome was not what the Raiders had planned for, but O’Connell’s potential is becoming more apparent with each game.
The Silver and Black will play the Minnesota Vikings at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, December 10, at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST.
