After the Bills defeated the Cowboys earlier this month, quarterback Josh Allen said he felt like a kid who didn’t do anything for a class project but still got an A.
Aidan O’Connell may have felt the same way after the Raiders’ 20-14 victory over the Chiefs on Christmas Day.
O’Connell finished the contest 9-of-21 for 62 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He did not complete a pass after the first quarter, missing each of his last 10 throws.
But with an effective run game and the Raiders defense putting on a stellar performance, O’Connell did enough to win.
“One hundred percent. That is why it is a team sport and why you love playing,” O’Connell said, via Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Obviously, I can’t say enough about our defense and our offensive line and running backs, even the receivers blocking down the field. It was a team win, and those guys carried me.”
O’Connell added that he was OK with being careful as a passer as the game unfolded.
“You want to be aggressive, but at the same time, you need to understand the flow of the game,” O’Connell said. “Good teams can win different types of games. Obviously, we want to score a lot of points offensively, but our defense did such a good job.”
The Raiders are 4-4 in games O’Connell has started this season. The fourth-round pick out of Purdue has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,675 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions as a rookie.