While the Las Vegas Raiders pulled out an exciting overtime victory in Seattle on Sunday, the game began with some bizarre circumstances. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than on the first play from scrimmage. Derek Carr threw an interception to Quandre Diggs, and while Diggs returned the pick deep into Raider territory, Seahawks outside linebacker Darrell Taylor left the sidelines and ran onto the field to block. While the referees missed this occurrence, the Raiders and Josh McDaniels did not.
You’re not in New England anymore, Josh McDaniels.
During McDaniels’ press conference in Las Vegas on Monday morning, he was asked if he has ever seen a play like that before and what the process is for the league apologizing to the Raiders for missing something so abnormal in a football game. McDaniels began with a simple statement:
“We’re the Raiders,” he said, bringing a round of laughter from the assembled media members. Anyone who follows the team knows what that means—the refs aren’t going to do the Raiders any favors. McDaniels continued with his recollection of that play and its immediate aftermath.
“Yes, I saw the play. No, I’ve never seen anything like that before. I mean, I think he went out there to celebrate, and then he ended up making a couple of blocks there to try to help his buddy. Yeah, they missed the call. Clearly, that should have been a penalty. But I’ll leave that at that,” said McDaniels.
The Raiders coach was then asked if he found out about the play during the game. Funny enough, McDaniels indicated he was well aware of what had happened at the time.
“Oh yeah, we saw it right when it happened. I think all of our offensive players came over and said the same thing, like 52 (Taylor) wasn’t even on the field.”
“We’re the Raiders.”
McDaniels was then asked if this was his “We’re the Raiders” moment.
“I’ve had multiple of those. I’m aware of the statistics for the last 20 years. So, we’ll see if we can change that a little bit,” McDaniels said.
Using the phrase “relative to the statistics” is very telling for McDaniels. It shows that he’s keenly aware of how the Raiders have been treated by both the league and the referees over the past few decades. Actually, you could argue over the entire history of the franchise when compared to other teams. For a guy coming in from New England, who has been treated as the darlings of the NFL and who can do no wrong over that same time period, it’s understandable that McDaniels would have his fair share of “We’re the Raiders” moments where he realizes that wearing the Silver and Black puts you behind the 8-Ball, so to speak. How McDaniels plans to change this is anyone’s guess. However, there’s no question he’s getting a good idea of what being a Raider is all about when it comes to dealing with the referees.
*Top Photo: Official Raiders YouTube Channel