One play away: Raiders lose via batted-down conversion pass in overtime

Raiders quarterback Geno Smith dropped back into a clean pocket and spotted Tyler Lockett running alone in the back of the end zone.

He just couldn’t get the ball there.

Smith hesitated, double-pumped and tried to zip a pass in but he didn’t get enough height on the ball.  Jaguars defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton batted it down to seal a victory for the visitors Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium.

The failed two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds of overtime gave the Jaguars a 30-29 win over the Raiders.

“(Offensive coordinator) Chip (Kelly) called a great play,” Smith said in his postgame news conference. “We got the alert we wanted. They reacted how we wanted. Tyler Lockett is open in the back of the end zone. We win the game if guy doesn’t jump up and tip the ball. Hats off to him. He made the play.”

The loss dropped Las Vegas to 2-6 on the season and meant they ruined one of the best games of star tight end Brock Bowers’ career.

The second-year player out of Georgia had a Week 9 league-high 12 receptions for 127 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in his first game back fully healthy since a Week 1 win over New England.

Bowers scored both a go-ahead touchdown inside the two-minute warning of regulation and the possible game-winner in overtime before Smith couldn’t make the two-point conversion play work.

“That’s cool and all but we come here to win games,” Bowers said of his breakout. “You want to come back in here and celebrate with the guys. It sucks.”

Raiders coach Pete Carroll told everyone Bowers was back to feeling like himself coming off a lingering knee strain in the days leading up to the Raiders’ game against the Jaguars.

But he had shared similarly optimistic reports on occasion in the last two months since Bowers got hurt so, in this case, seeing was believing for Raiders’ fans.

They all saw it against the Jaguars, as Bowers’ re-insertion after missing three games and being limited in three others lifted the Raiders’ offense to one of their best games since Smith and Carroll arrived.

“This is what we’ve been missing,” Carroll said. “It can’t be more obvious. Brock is such a good football player. This is what we watched all summer long and offseason. Those guys hooking up, it just makes everything better. You have a go-to guy.”

Bowers also scored the game’s first touchdown when he went up to snag a high pass from Smith and narrowly landed inside the pylon with less than a minute left before halftime. But Daniel Carlson missed the ensuing extra point in a miscue that haunted the Raiders the rest of the game.

Las Vegas’ defense held Jacksonville in check most of Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium — until it really mattered.

Jacksonville scored on its final four possessions, including a 4th-and-inches leap to break the plane by quarterback Trevor Lawrence in overtime. The extra point wound up being the game-winner.

As big of a performance as it was for Bowers, he won’t go down as the most memorable player in the game.

That honor belongs to Jacksonville kicker Cam Little. The second-year player out of Arkansas made an NFL-record 68-yard field goal with relative ease before halftime for the Jaguars’ first points and then squeezed in a 48-yarder to force overtime with 16 seconds remaining.

Las Vegas then had one play to try to get into range for Carlson, but Smith took one of his two sacks on the day.

“The frickin’ guys in the locker room, it just pisses me off that’s how it is — the all-time longest field goal in the history of the game and a missed extra point (being the difference),” Carroll said.  

Smith finished with 284 yards and four touchdowns on 29-for-39 passing but, like the defense, couldn’t come through at the most important moment.

A Smith interception to start the second half put the Jaguars in position to tie the game at 6-6, and they later increased their third-quarter lead to 13-9 when Lawrence scored his first rushing touchdown.

But the Raiders responded, with Smith throwing his second touchdown pass — this one to running back Ashton Jeanty, who made Antonio Johnson miss and chugged 14 yards down the sideline to put the Raiders up 16-13.

Edge rusher Maxx Crosby put a frustrating, relatively unproductive day behind him two plays later by sacking Lawrence to set up a third-and-11 for Jacksonville with a deafening roar taking over Allegiant.

But the Jaguars hit their biggest play of the day, a 32-yard pass from Lawrence to No. 1 receiver Brian Thomas, and it was a glimpse of what was to come.

Jacksonville had no trouble moving the ball the rest of the day on Las Vegas, including on the 10-play, 44-yard scoring drive that took up around seven minutes of game time to start overtime.

Third- and fourth-down defense was a big problem for the Raiders, as they allowed conversions on 12 of 19 attempts.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get off the field in the second half,” Carroll said.

“Our tackling was really off. I thought we tackled poorly today. I think that was a difference for us on the defensive side.”

Smith did his part in bringing the Raiders right back when they got their guaranteed possession as part of the NFL’s new overtime rules with less than four minutes left on the clock.

Raheem Mostert set Las Vegas up in prime position with a 51-yard kickoff return to the Jaguars’ 35-yard line, and Smith capitalized with long completions to Bowers and Tre Tucker before the touchdown strike to the former.

But his final pass wasn’t good enough, even though Smith didn’t express any regrets when asked if he could have done anything differently on the game-deciding throw.

“That’s football, brotha,” Smith said.