Raiders’ Daniel Carlson, on blocked kick: ‘It felt good off the foot’

Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson thought he struck the ball well on a potential game-winning field goal attempt in the final minute of Sunday’s 25-24 loss to the Bears at Allegiant Stadium.

Nobody will ever know how well.

Josh Blackwell rushed untouched and blocked the 54-yard attempt, ensuring a victory for the Bears.

“The guy comes off the edge and makes a great play,” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said. “Since field goals were invented, you’ve got to get the guy on the edge, and we didn’t get him.”

Defensive tackle Jonah Laulu was the wing blocker on the right side of the field-goal unit, but Carlson wouldn’t assign any blame.

“It felt good off the foot,” he said. “We’ll have to look at it and figure out what happened. Snap felt good, and the operation. Timing we maybe have to figure out a little bit. They made a good play, but it just sucks. You want to nail that and finish a good win.”

Blackwell said the Bears had identified a tendency on the Raiders’ field-goal unit in how the ball was moved before the snap.

“Early in the week, we had looked at the film to see that they have a little tendency in their snap ability,” he said. “We got close on the first two kicks, and I was like, ‘I’m going to time this up a little bit, and I’m going to get it.

“He was moving the ball a little bit. (I saw that) and got a good jump.”

It was Carlson’s first career miss on a kick that would have tied the game or given the Raiders the lead in the final minute of regulation after making his first seven such attempts.

He had been 34 of 46 on kicks of 50 or more yards and is by far the most accurate kicker in franchise history — on all attempts and those beyond 50 yards.

It was the third time he has had a kick blocked in his career, with all three attempts coming from beyond 50 yards.

Standing out

A huge deal was made this offseason about an adjustment to running back Ashton Jeanty’s infamous presnap stance that college football fans often referred to as the “Weekend at Bernie’s” for his almost straight up-and-down posture.

Jeanty has been steadily morphing back toward that position after standing with his knees somewhat bent in his first few games as a pro.

It was almost fully back to the Boise State stance Sunday.

“That’s just how I naturally feel good standing in the backfield, so that’s how I’m going to play,” said Jeanty, who had a breakout game with 155 total yards and three touchdowns.

Jeanty said there’s no real meaning behind the stance and that it has developed over his years of playing the position.

“It’s just how I like to stand,” he said. “It’s just what I do. No special explanation.”

Teammate Maxx Crosby said it was only a matter of time before Jeanty erupted.

“He looked awesome,” Crosby said. “Everyone has their opinions about (expletive) in September, and now they’re just going to jump on the bandwagon. This happens every year. He’s an incredible player, and he’s going to keep getting better and better.”

Jeanty became the sixth rookie in the Super Bowl era to have at least one rushing touchdown and at least two receiving touchdowns in the same game.

He’s the fourth Raiders rookie to have three scrimmage touchdowns of any kind, joining Bo Jackson, Marcus Allen and Raymond Chester.

Powers-Johnson returns

Second-year offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson was back in the lineup at right guard after suffering a concussion during practice leading up to Week 2.

“I just love playing football,” he said. “It was a chance to hit somebody and not get in trouble.”

Powers-Johnson was inactive in Week 2 and served as a backup to Alex Cappa last week.

He was part of a unit that finally opened up space for Jeanty on Sunday.

Center Jordan Meredith hopes the line found something to build off even if things weren’t perfect.

“It’s definitely nice to see the running back run past you, but I’m sure there will still be plenty on the film to correct,” he said. “Offensive line takes time. It’s five guys working as a unit, so it’s not always going to come in the first week.”

Injury report

The Raiders lost starting cornerback Eric Stokes and starting left tackle Kolton Miller to injury, but Carroll didn’t have a long-term prognosis for either.

“Eric sprained his knee a little bit,’ Carroll said. “He was back up running and thought he could go, then he decided not. With Kolton, he sprained his ankle.”

Miller was carted off before the Raiders’ final offensive snap and replaced by Stone Forsythe. The play resulted in Jeanty getting stuffed behind the line on a third-and-2 play and forced the Raiders to try the long field goal.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.