Aidan O'Connell Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
ArticlesNFLBy Chris Novak on

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell did something absurd on Christmas Day. Maybe not what you might think, either.

The rookie O’Connell and interim head coach Antonio Pierce helped lead the Raiders to a shocking upset over Kansas City. The Raiders stunned the Chiefs with a 20-14 win that Taylor Swift was in the house for.

Here’s the kicker: Aidan O’Connell didn’t complete a single pass after the first quarter!

Ben Fawkes brought attention to this online with a post on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.

“Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell did not complete a pass in 3 entire quarters and the Raiders beat the Chiefs 20-14,” Fawkes said. They then broke it down: He threw for 62 passing yards in the first quarter. Then in the second? Zero. The third? Zero. Finally, the fourth? You guessed it: Also zero.

You definitely don’t see this often in the NFL. Recently, the Michigan Wolverines deployed a similar strategy that helped them lead to a win over Penn State. But that wasn’t necessarily because quarterback J.J. McCarthy couldn’t complete a pass, but rather they adjusted to their situation.

Still, it’s a crazy thing to happen in a professional game! And it took a lot of people by surprise online. Plenty around the NFL world had a lot to say about the Raiders’ quarterback’s crazy day.

[Ben Fawkes]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022

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