Out of all the scenarios leading up to Week 18’s games, it seemed like all NFL fans outside of Western Pennsylvania were rooting for the unlikely tie-and-in path for the Chargers and Raiders.
And honestly, it remains wild just how close we all were to witnessing that outrageous result.
By now, you know what happened. The Jaguars upset the Colts, and the Steelers beat the Ravens to set up a Sunday night game where both teams would reach the playoffs with a tie. The idea of collusion between the Chargers and Raiders was joked about throughout the game. And with time winding down in overtime, the Raiders were content with running the clock out and taking that tie until the Chargers called a timeout. The Raiders kicked a last-second field goal to win.
Even injured Raiders running back Kenyan Drake joked about an under-the-table deal between the two teams.
chargers take a timeout??? i thought we had a deal!!??
— Kenyan Drake™ 🥋 (@KDx32) January 10, 2022
Obviously, Drake was joking just like the rest of us on Twitter. But the Raiders essentially admitted that they were considering a tie until the Chargers used that late timeout. Drake’s joke only further acknowledged how that decision changed the entire mindset of the team.
With that last-second Daniel Carlson field goal, the Chargers’ playoff hopes came to an end. It’s going to be a long offseason thinking about that timeout decision.
