ALAMEDA _ Regrets? Jack Del Rio usually has too few to mention.



But the Raiders coach was willing to do a little second-guessing of himself Monday at his weekly press conference, the day after a 38-35 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

The setup: Pittsburgh place kicker Chris Boswell kicked a 38-yard field goal for a 21-14, then kicked it into the end zone for a touchback with 29 seconds left in the first half.

The Raiders had all three of their time outs, but Del Rio instructed offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave to have quarterback Derek Carr take a knee and keep the seven-point deficit heading into halftime.

“As I sit here today, I kind of kick myself for not taking advantage of that,” Del Rio said. “I think there was an opportunity to do more there, be more aggressive. My feeling at the moment was, offensively, we hadn’t really thrown it well in the first half. And I just didn’t want to have exposure right there that might lead to a bad thing going in.”

Carr, at the time, was 8-for-17 for 86 yards.

But the Raiders have demonstrated through eight games to be an explosive outfit, so taking a knee seemed a bit conservative a day later.

“In hindsight, if I had that to do over again, I’d take a couple of shots there and utilize our time outs and play that aggressively,” Del Rio said.

Another factor for Del Rio doing it his way? The Raiders received the kickoff to open the second half.

“That’s exactly what it was,” Del Rio said. “We’re going to get this ball to start the second half. Let’s not do anything silly to end the half the wrong way. But as I sit here looking back, I sey, hey, we’ve got a good offense, we’ve got three time outs, let’s take a shot at it.”

The Raiders’ issues with play-calling actually preceded the final 29 seconds.

On third-and-8 from their own 24, rather than throwing the ball, Latavius Murray was stuffed for a 4-yard loss on a draw play. Marquette King got off only a 39-yard punt, and Pittsburgh got in position for the 38-yard Boswell field goal.

— Del Rio seemed optimistic that center Rodney Hudson (ankle) and Murray (concussion) would be available to face Minnesota. Hudson missed 16 snaps with an ankle injury, with Tony Bergstrom getting his first playing time on the offensive line since 2012. Murray, who left with a suspected concussion, is already making progress in the league’s protocol to be cleared to play, Del Rio said.