Aidan O’Connell had an elegant reaction to the Raiders’ game-winning fumble snap against the Chiefs

Aidan O’Connell still has a lot to prove in his young NFL career, but he certainly looked like a franchise quarterback on Friday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.

And he sounded like it after the Las Vegas Raiders suffered a heartbreaking 19-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

O’Connell was about to set up a potentially game-winning field goal attempt for Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson when disaster struck. Las Vegas rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson, who moved to center earlier this month, grabbed the ball too early on a third down play. The football slipped off O’Connell’s shoulder and the Chiefs retrieved it, securing their 11th victory.

As any veteran quarterback would do, O’Connell took full responsibility for the botched snap in his postgame press conference.

“It’s completely my fault,” O’Connell said. “I looked to my right to make sure the guys were ready and started clapping. In my head I thought I was supposed to signal to the ball to get the ball, but when I start clapping, it basically tells Jackson to grab the ball.”

“Jackson did exactly what he should have done. I clapped too soon. That’s how football bounces sometimes; it didn’t go according to our wishes. Super hard, but there’s really no one to blame but myself. That’s probably the hardest part to swallow.”

For his part, Powers-Johnson also took the blame after the game.

“We didn’t fall short,” Powers-Johnson said, according to Tashan Reed ofThe athlete. “I fell short.”

The Raiders, now 2-10, will be ranked high in the 2025 NFL Draft and could look to select a young quarterback talent in the first round. But O’Connell, who threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 35 passes against the Chiefs, turned in a performance on and off the field Friday that showed his potential as a franchise leader.