Raiders coach: ‘angel in the outfield’ may have helped Chiefs on Thursday

After the Chiefs’ 21-13 win over the Raiders on Thursday night, there were some who wondered if one of Derek Carr’s 27 incomplete passes was the result of technology.

They specifically wondered if a Carr pass to Amari Cooper hit a TV wire above the Arrowhead Stadium field. It happened in the fourth quarter. Cooper had gotten past the Chiefs’ Marcus Peters and a good throw may have ended with a touchdown. Instead, it was the ball fell harmlessly to the ground.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio had a different theory.

“The angel in the outfield,” Del Rio said Monday at his weekly news conference. “I mean, it moved. You know? I don’t know if it hit a wire or an angel in the outfield moved it, a gust of wind. I don’t know. It moved.

“To me it was like one of so many plays that could have gone differently. But I’m certainly not sitting here hung up on that play.”

Del Rio was referencing the 1994 movie “Angels In The Outfield” starring Danny Glover in the best-known role of his career as manager George Knox.* Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrien Brody, Matthew McConaughey, Christopher Lloyd and Tony Danza were also in the movie.

*Relax, that was a joke.

That film was a remake of the 1951 movie of the same title.

One way for Kansas City fans to spin Del Rio’s comments is to say that he believes that God wants the Chiefs to win. But, Del Rio was clearly kidding.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 8:08 AM.