Raiders Still Mad Over Non-Fumble

There’s been the Immaculate Reception, the Tuck Rule and now this for the Oakland Raiders.

Another memorable call that went against Oakland and helped cost the Raiders a game.

The call in Sunday’s game against San Diego that overturned a fumble and helped the Chargers rally for the tying score in a 21-14 victory.

The play came on fourth-and-2 from the Raiders 40 with about 12 minutes left in a game Oakland led 14-7. Vincent Jackson made a diving catch of a 13-yard pass from Philip Rivers, rolled to the ground untouched, then stood up and spun the ball forward in celebration. Oakland’s Fabian Washington jumped on the ball for what appeared to be a gift fumble.

Referee Mike Carey originally signaled Oakland’s possession and the Raiders’ offense came on the field. But after the officials huddled, the play was eventually ruled an illegal forward pass and the Chargers were penalized 5 yards. They still gained enough for a first down and San Diego tied the game five plays later, then went on to win.

“When those plays happen, we do seem to catch the wrong end of it, like the tuck rule,” coach Art Shell said Monday. “Somewhere hidden in the rule book there’s something there, but they seem to dig it up when we play. This is another scenario that when something comes up, we’re involved in it, and it goes against us.”

The tuck ruling helped cost Oakland a playoff game against New England in January 2002, nearly three decades after Pittsburgh used the Immaculate Reception to beat the Raiders in the playoffs in December 1972.

This call wasn’t nearly as costly because the Raiders (2-9) have no playoff aspirations. But it could have helped give a struggling team a needed win.

Shell said that immediately after the game he called Mike Pereira, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, to get an explanation. Pereira told Shell the play was correctly called an illegal forward pass, but Shell said he would call the league again later this week to get further explanation.

“It seems like the Raiders are always involved in these types of things,” Shell said. “Any time there’s a rule change it becomes a Raider rule, and most of those things go against us, so I’m sure they’ll look at it and come up with an answer. I think Mike is supposed to be sending out a tape concerning those types of plays.”

According to Rule 8, Section 4, Article 2 of the NFL rule book, “If a runner intentionally fumbles forward, it is a forward pass.” The intent of the player doesn’t come into question.

The Raiders compared it to a similar play by Plaxico Burress in 2000 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, when he spiked the ball after a catch while the play was still alive. Danny Clark recovered for Jacksonville and returned the ball 44 yards.

But NFL spokes-man Steve Alic said Burress’ spike went backward, making it a fumble instead of an illegal forward pass.

This marked the third straight week Oakland lost a game against a division rival that the Raiders led in the fourth quarter. They blew leads to Denver and Kansas City the previous two weeks, with the game against the Broncos also marked by a disputed call against Oakland that negated a fumble.

It’s a far cry from the way the season began, with the Raiders getting blown out and looking overmatched, but wins are still hard to come by.

“Close is not good enough for us, of course. We want to win,” Shell said. “But I’ve been saying this for the last few weeks. The players see progress. And they know they can play with any team in this league, and even though it doesn’t show in the won-loss column. This team is a much better team than the one that started the season.”

Defensive back Chris Carr, who was called for running out of bounds on a punt to negate the fumble against Denver on Nov. 12, said even though the call Sunday was “horrible,” the Raiders need to be able to overcome it.

“If we would have never allowed the guy to catch the ball, we would have never been in that position,” Carr said. “It’s a tough call. ... If we do what we’re supposed to do, then that would never have happened even though I believe that it was a fumble.”

UP NEXT

The Raiders will play the Houston Texans next, in New Orleans.