Sunday’s meltdown loss to the Jaguars will be remembered for one deplorable piece of officiating that cost the Raiders the game, but it wasn’t the only gaffe the officials made in the fourth quarter.
A key third-down blitz with nine minutes to play was called offsides on the Raiders and after looking at the replay, the call wasn’t even close to correct.
Curtis Riley timed the blitz perfectly in part because the play clock was running down, but the officials (and Rich Gannon in the broadcast booth) all thought it was offsides.
See for yourself.
So why not make offsides a play that can be reviewed? Especially since NFL officials seem to be getting worse at deciphering the information being transmitted from their eyes to their brain. For all the ineffectiveness replay has proven to be, offsides would be one of the quickest and easiest calls to review.
And maybe, just maybe, more games in the future would be decided by players… and not referees. Or maybe that’s not something the league is particularly concerned about moving forward.
twitter: @raidersbeat
He wasn’t offsides. ALL flags should be reviewed. I’m a HS Football ref and am better than the Pro’s.
Regardless of refs blown calls Raiders should have never allowed those calls to matter. The fact remains that Raiders offense is stalling n failing to producevfor 4 quarters. Gruden had no business coming back, receiving ridiculous contract, replacing Del Rio, running whole show, n should not be allowed to continue as coach.
The media n fans make up all kinds of stories n excuses for why this happens or why that happens instead of just looking at everything with common sense vision n as they truly are. Gruden wanted to be the boss of bosses, captain of ship then he should answer n be the first person gone upon ship sinking n this ship has sunk.
For all the Gruden bashing….he is in year two with a team just destroyed with injury, and is still alive for a playoff birth (albeit unlikely) in week 16. Did anyone really expect a Super Bowl in the second year?
Well upon Gruden returning 2 Raiders he told fans in Oakland n Media that he would bring a championship 2 them prior 2 leaving n Gruden went about bringing in many veterans making Raiders oldest team at time. N there is no such thing as a rebuild so miss me everyone with the “he is only in year 2 blah blah blah.” There are many young n new coaches that have come in n produced immediately n much more effectively than the highest paid joke in history Gruden. Rebuilds dont happen in football thats just what losing franchises slogan with 2 keep fans amused n believing. There has never been so called rebuild in New England where they have won at least 10 games for 18-19 years in a row. Steelers have not had so called rebuild. Cleveland n Cincinnati had rebuilds for 20 years or so – is that the type of rebuild u are suggesting?
The ship became the reason why he was with the Buccaneers and when he won that superbowl (why is a Raider fan mad at him?)
Bad calls on the Raiders are nothing new…they are the NFLs most hated team…beginning with the commissioner all the way down to the officials…even before the Tuck rule there has always been a conspiracy against the Silver and Black…the league HATED Al Davis….the Raiders will never get a fair shake…not as long as a Davis continues to own them