Calls don’t get ringing endorsement
Referee decisions still anger Del Rio 24 hours after loss
ALAMEDA >> The Raiders sorted through a wide range of emotions Monday, still seething from costly officials’ decisions a day earlier in 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and reeling from the news that offensive line stalwart Donald Penn needs season-ending surgery.
Coach Jack Del Rio wasn’t mincing words about a pair of game-changing calls that helped drop the Raiders to 6-8 and on the precipice of playoff elimination.
The obvious one was a fourth-and-1 gamble by the Cowboys with 4:49 left that resulted in a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Dak Prescott and a first down at the 40.
The score was 17-17, and if Prescott had been stopped,
the Raiders would get the ball on the Dallas side of the field.
The call came after a protracted period of time, with referee Gene Steratore pulling a card from his pocket to measure the distance between the nose of the football and the first down pole and smiling as the process played out.
“I thought everything was in place to get an accurate call and I saw space and in my opinion, it should have gone the other way and a turnover on downs,” Del Rio said.
Del Rio said he hadn’t gotten an explanation from the league office “but whatever it is, I’m going to disagree with it. I know what I saw. I saw it myself on the sideline. But I also saw plenty of examples on Twitter.
“The guy ran out there with a camera and put the camera right down on it, so the whole world could see what it was. It’s not like we’re making something up. The guy with the camera was right there. So how you can look at that and get up with a smirk ... I don’t know, that’s hard to take.”
Del Rio said during the game, he wasn’t aware of the card Steratore had pulled from his pocket, only that it appeared obvious to him there was space between the ball and the pole.
“I only saw it on social media ... I saw space and I was like, ‘Alright, they just made a big error going for it right there and this is a turning point,’” Del Rio said. “There’s four (minutes) and change in the game and we’ve got the ball on the 40 going the other way. That was pretty ballsy and it really didn’t work, except they got the fortuitous reaction from the crew.”
The other call Del Rio had an issue with was an offensive pass interference call on tight end Jared Cook which nullified an 11-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr with 14 seconds left and the Raiders trailing 10-0.
Cook and Lee made contact in the end zone, with Cook holding his ground making the catch.
Officials detected a pushoff. Del Rio saw it differently.
“I think it should have been a touchdown,” Del Rio said. “It was not ruled a defensive hold, which it was. Instead it was ruled an OPI and they took it off the board. That was disappointing. I think the tape verifies that. It was disappointing.” SURGERY FOR PENN >> Del Rio confirmed that Penn, the Raiders’ left tackle, will have foot surgery on Wednesday that will sideline him for the rest of the season. Penn’s run of 170 consecutive regular season starts is the longest active streak among NFL linemen. He hasn’t missed a regular season game since entering the league in 2007.
The veteran went down with about five minutes left in the first quarter of Sunday night’s game. He slammed his hand into the grass and limped off with the help of trainers. He headed to the locker room shortly after, a towel over his head and two trainers by his side entering the tunnel.
Penn didn’t return, and right tackle Marshall Newhouse slid over to the left side in his place. Secondyear lineman Vadal Alexander came in at right tackle for Newhouse.
• Del Rio acknowledged that a penalty (on Jon Feliciano) on a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cordarrelle Patterson was called correctly. As for Carr’s fumble into the end zone that could have been the winning touchdown, Del Rio said it was also the right call even if the rule giving the ball to the defensive team at the 20-yard line may be overly severe.
“I’d have to agree that it shouldn’t count so much against you when you’re that close to the goal line,” Del Rio said.
Del Rio said Carr was urged to take off and run if the opportunity arose and to “be himself” but conceded his ball security could have been better.
“Would love to have seen him secure it with two hands and try and stretch it across with two hands,” Del Rio said. “It was in his left hand and the safety came over and there was contact and that jostled it loose.