HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Aidan O'Connell will start at quarterback when the Las Vegas Raiders visit their AFC West rival and two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Friday.
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce made the announcement Wednesday, saying O'Connell had progressed well after breaking his right thumb on Oct. 20 in a 20-15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“He’s been dialed in obviously throughout this time that he’s been on (injured reserve),” Pierce said. "He’s been at all the meetings. He’s been very encouraging on the sideline. He’s got that laser-eye focus right now. Great opportunity for him.”
Gardner Minshew broke his left collarbone on Sunday in a game against the Denver Broncos and is out for the season.
The Raiders could have gone with Desmond Ridder to replace Minshew. Las Vegas signed Ridder off Arizona’s practice squad on Oct. 21. He started 13 games for Atlanta last season, passing for 2,836 yards and 12 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.
Pierce opted for O'Connell, who became the starter midway through last season and went 5-4 the rest of the way.
Minshew beat him out for the job in the preseason but then struggled through five games.
Pierce then put O'Connell in the starting lineup on Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. O'Connell completed 27 of 40 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown with an interception in the 32-13 loss.
Then O'Connell was injured early the following week at Los Angeles and was placed on IR, sidelining him for at least four weeks.
The Raiders on Monday designated him to return to practice, opening a three-week window in which O'Connell could be activated. That came this week.
“He carried himself like a starter, even when he was on IR," Pierce said. "He did that when he was a backup. He did a great job of just being engaged with the players, engaged on the sideline, in meeting rooms. He’s the one speaking up, talking. You could just look at his eyes. You can look at his demeanor.
"He wasn’t a guy like: ‘All right, I’m out for the season. I’m not going to play. No, I’ll be back. I’m ready to be back.’ And he worked his tail off to get back.”
O'Connell has a short week to prepare, complicated further because the Raiders aren't having full practices.
He was the last opposing quarterback to win at Arrowhead Stadium. Even though he didn't complete a pass after the first quarter, the Raiders walked away 20-14 winners in that Christmas Day game.
Las Vegas can only play a little bit of a spoiler this week. The Raiders at 2-9 have lost seven consecutive games, and the Chiefs have their sights on becoming the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row.
“Let’s call a spade a spade,” Pierce said. "The best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, right? Let’s go out there and make it a dog fight. Let’s make it ugly. Let’s make it scrappy. It’s Black Friday. Let’s create a little chaos. Let’s get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality. Let it loose.”
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FILE - Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Oct. 20, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) is assisted by trainers and Head Coach Antonio Pierce, right, after an injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her reelection bid Wednesday after a recount confirmed her lead, helping her party pad its thin majority in the U.S. House and retain control of all four of Iowa’s congressional seats.
Miller-Meeks said in a post on the social platform X that she was “deeply honored” after she defeated Democrat Christina Bohannan in a rematch of 2022, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points. The margin this year was much tighter — Miller-Meeks' lead over Bohannan was less than a percentage point, or fewer than 1,000 votes.
“I am now looking forward to getting back to work in Washington to lower prices at the gas pump, grocery store and on prescription drugs, secure the border and help farmers," said Miller-Meeks, who represents the 1st District, which includes the eastern part of the state and a swath of south-central Iowa, including Johnson County, home to University of Iowa in Iowa City.
Miller-Meeks earned a first term in Congress representing Iowa’s 2nd District when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.
The Associated Press called this year's race at 4:02 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Miller-Meeks had declared victory earlier, but the AP had not yet called the race because the margin was close enough that it could prompt a recount.
Bohannan's campaign on Nov. 14 requested a recount, as any candidate is allowed to do, saying in a statement that the recount will make certain “that every voter is heard.” She congratulated Miller-Meeks in a message on X after the vote count was completed.
“Although this is not the result we wanted, I am so proud of our campaign,” she wrote. “We exceeded all expectations and turned a district that many pundits thought was unwinnable into one of the very closest races in the country.”
The request was made for a recount in each of the district’s 20 counties. Because the margin was less than a percentage point, the state — not the candidate — pays for the costs associated with the recount.
Miller-Meeks’ campaign accused Bohannan and other Democrats of being “election deniers," and Republicans have said Bohannan is wasting taxpayer dollars.
“This is a delaying tactic to thwart the will of the people,” the Miller-Meeks campaign said in a Nov. 14 statement. “A recount won’t meaningfully change the outcome of this race as the congresswoman’s lead is mathematically impossible to overcome.”
Republican incumbents held onto Iowa’s three other congressional seats, maintaining GOP control over the entirety of Iowa’s congressional delegation. The sweep in 2022 represented the first time in three decades that Iowa had an all-Republican delegation, emblematic of the sharp rightward shift in the state not long after former President Barack Obama carried Iowa in 2008 and again in 2012.
Obama won with solid support from the eastern counties along the Mississippi River that have mostly backed Trump since and bolster Miller-Meeks' in her district as well.
Two competitive congressional races in Iowa this year — the 1st and 3rd Districts — brought millions of dollars in paid advertising to the state from national campaign arms for House Republican and Democrats.
Zach Nunn fought off the challenge from Democrat Lanon Baccam in the 3rd District, which includes much of the Des Moines metro area.
Republican incumbents Ashley Hinson in the 2nd District and Randy Feenstra in the 4th District won decisively. Hinson defeated Democrat Sarah Corkery. Feenstra defeated Democrat Ryan Melton.
FILE - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, speaks with local farmers on the set of the Barn Talk podcast on the Whisler family farm near Washington, Iowa, Nov. 1, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP FILE)
