Sunday afternoon at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum started out as a joyous occasion, but evolved into a disappointing day due to the Raiders 20-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For most of the game, the Silver and Black owned the lead, and the momentum, but a costly call in the fourth quarter changed everything.
On an RPO play with 2:12 left in regulation, Derek Carr kept the ball himself, scrambled for 12 yards and slid in the field of play near the Jaguars' sideline to keep the clock ticking; however, the clock stopped. The officiating crew stopped the clock with 2:05 left in the fourth quarter when it should've ticked down to the two-minute warning. The controversial call caused several things to happen, which negatively impacted the outcome of the game.
The Raiders' offense stalled after the play and a missed field goal set the Jaguars up in excellent field position with a timeout – which should've been used to stop the clock prior to the two-minute warning, but the referees missed call stopped it for them – and 1:43 left to march down the field.
Following the conclusion of the Week 15 matchup, Head Coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr voiced their disbelief with the call, and made their disappointment abundantly clear.
Nearly 24 hours later, Coach Gruden told reporters during his weekly Monday press conference that he received a call from NFL Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron, who apologized for the officials getting the call on the field wrong.
"The league called. Al Riveron, he apologized. And we accept the apology."
Gruden was grateful for the apology, but he's still disgruntled about the way a lot of calls have gone this season.
"I don't like it at all," he said when asked about the play. "They stopped the game in Indiana, took my middle linebacker away for 12 weeks; they ended his season. They stopped the game in Kansas City and took [Trayvon] Mullen's interception away. Why don't you stop the game and get the clock right? I don't think it was even close. So, I'm not happy about it. Apologies are great, but this is 2020, we've been in enough meetings and I'm disgusted by it."
It was a disappointing call that led to a disappointing outcome, and it will surely leave a sour taste in the mouth of everyone who experienced it.
"What happened yesterday, the quarterback gave himself up in the field of play," Gruden reiterated. "You had eight [referees] out there, you know? So, I'm not going to say much more, but to answer your question it's not real fulfilling, or is it fulfilling for our team and our fans who came out there to support us."
It's nice to know the NFL officiating crew recognized the mistake, but it doesn't change the fact it drastically altered the course of the game.
