Del Rio resists discussion on officiating gifts
Challenging schedule coach’s top concern, not missed calls
ALAMEDA — Jack Del Rio didn’t see the point in talking about his good fortune Monday given the challenging road ahead.
While Tennessee Titans coach Mike Mularkey was spending part of his media briefing revealing that the NFL had conceded that his team was the victim of a “poorly officiated play” Sunday that led to a 24-21 win by the Raiders, Del Rio adhered to league policy.
“We try to keep inhouse out of respect for the guys and the job that they do,” Del Rio said. “There are a lot of opportunities in the game for different calls to go different ways. I’m just not going to get into that.”
Del Rio is the coach of a 5-6 team that remains in playoff contention. Mularkey, an interim coach of a 2-9 team, risked a fine for being specific about reports that are supposed to be confidential and are a weekly part of the review process.
Mularkey said the league told him officials missed two Raiders penalties on the pivotal fourthand-8 play with two minutes left: a false start by Michael Crabtree and offensive pass interference in the end zone by Andre Holmes. Instead, B.W. Webb’s defensive holding call against Amari Cooper gave the Raiders a first down with 1:50 remaining.
Derek Carr hit Seth Roberts with the winning 12-yard touchdown pass two plays later.
The Kansas City Chiefs are up next for the Raiders, and with four of Oakland’s final five opponents currently holding playoff seeds, the penalty that allowed Roberts’ winning score was yesterday’s news.
With Denver well atop the AFC West at 9-2, Del Rio appeared willing to concede the division title was out of reach, but little else.
“Everything we’d like to accomplish, for the most part, is in front of us,” Del Rio said. “Five big games left. An opportunity to play our best football down the stretch, and we’re going to need it because we have a heck of a challenge in front of us, starting with the Chiefs.”
The Raiders, the No. 9 seed, face No. 5 Kansas City twice (also in the regular-season finale) and in between play at No. 3 Denver and host NFC No. 5 seed Green Bay as well as San Diego.
That the Raiders came perilously close to losing in back to back weeks to twowin teams took a back seat to ending a three-game losing streak and keeping their dreams intact.
“Once December gets here, you get into teams that are making their run and then you also get some teams that are looking for things to play for,” Del Rio said. “It can take on a different feeling depending on where you are.”
Del Rio would like to see improvement in the Raiders running game and the elimination of big plays defensively that lead to easy drives by the opposition.
Against Tennessee, Latavius Murray gained 59 yards on 22 carries. Over his last three games, he is averaging 2.9 yards per attempt with 47 carries for 135 yards.
While 30 rushing attempts (for 84 yards) picked up six first downs and helped slow a strong Tennessee pass rush, Del Rio is looking for more production.
“We have some things to clean up,” Del Rio said. “Usually when you don’t run it as well, it comes down to the timing on a couple of combination blocks, whether you’re hitting the hole just right, and whether we’re finishing downfield with receivers.”
■ Carr has eight career wins as a starting quarterback, and the Tennessee game was his third fourth-quarter comeback. Last season, Carr threw a touchdown pass with 1:42 remaining to beat Kansas City, and this season he threw one with 26 seconds left to beat Baltimore.
■ Del Rio did not give a direct answer when asked if he had been approached by USC to be its head coach. Del Rio is a USC graduate and has been linked to the school in past coaching searches.
The Trojans named Clay Helton their head coach.
“I am very happy that they have the guy that can lead them going forward, and I wish them nothing but the best,” Del Rio said.
■ Center Rodney Hudson is “day to day” with a sprained ankle this week. He missed the Tennessee game, and while Del Rio conceded it is tough to lose a “Pro Bowl caliber” center, he praised the play of backup Tony Bergstrom.