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NASHVILLE -- It won't make anyone feel better, but the NFL may have told Tennessee Titans interim coach Mike Mularkey on Monday that a blown officiating call cost the Titans a win Sunday against the Oakland YeaRaiders. Or maybe that is not what officials said, depending on how the story is retold. So sort through this carefully.
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There was a defensive holding call away from the ball against cornerback B.W. Webb on a fourth-and-8 play. The penalty gave the Raiders an automatic first down, and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr found Seth Roberts in the end zone two plays later for what proved to be the winning score.
(Editor's note: The fact that the infraction was "away from the ball" is inconsequential because any significant contact by a defender on a receiver more than 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage is itself illegal. This contact was about 6 or 7 yards into the end zone).
Moving on. . . .
On Monday, Mularkey called the league and was told that the call was "poorly officiated," as the Titans coach said there was also a false start and offensive pass interference on the Raiders not called on the play.
(Another editor's note here to point out that it remains unclear if the NFL actually claimed the holding call "away from the ball" was incorrect. But this is a story from the Titans perspective by The Sports Xchange's Tennessee writer, so, with that as a backdrop . . .):
"I vented my frustration over the calls, or lack of calls," Mularkey said. "There was a false start to start the play on (Raiders wide receiver Michael) Crabtree and then there was OPI (offensive pass interference) on (Andre) Holmes in the end zone on both of our defenders. I vented my frustrations about that.
"They said if you guys have any questions on that, call them about it. It was a poorly officiated play. It never should have started. I don't even know if they knew there was a false start to start the play. The play never should have even started. It should have been fourth-and-13."
Mularkey went on to say he wonders whether or not game officials ever feel any remorse over bad calls that cost teams games.
"It's frustrating for our team," Mularkey said. "I have to come in here and talk to our guys about what we have to do to win these close games. It comes down to things like that.
"There were other plays, don't get me wrong. There were multiple plays in all phases of our team that would have made a difference before that play ever came up. That play just happens to be the one that sticks out. But we had multiple chances to make a difference in that game before that happened."
Titans players said after Sunday's game that they want to play better for Mularkey, who is in the midst of a nine-game trial on an interim basis to try and retain the job. Mularkey reciprocated those feelings in his Monday press conference.
"This has been my third time at this job, and I don't know if I've ever wanted to win more for a team than this one," Mularkey said. "For the way they fight every game, the way they prepare every week. I want them to win badly, because then we're rewarded for that. That's why we do this business."
REPORT CARD VS RAIDERS
--PASSING OFFENSE: D. Marcus Mariota had an inconsistent day with 218 passing yards, while hitting 17 of 37 throws. He did have three touchdowns, but also threw two picks. His wide receivers came under scrutiny for not making enough plays and not being in the right spots all the time for him.
--RUSHING OFFENSE: F. The Titans had 7 yards on seven carries in the first half against one of the worst run defenses in the league. Things didn't get a whole lot better in the second half with just 44 yards as a team on 18 attempts.
--PASS DEFENSE: F. The Titans defense does OK at times, and does well getting pressure on the quarterback, but their suspect secondary continues to give up big plays, including the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes to play. The Raiders had 100-yard receiving games from both Amari Cooper and Seth Roberts on Sunday.
--RUSH DEFENSE: B. They held the Raiders to 84 yards on the day on the ground on 30 attempts, yet it still wasn't enough to translate into a victory.
--SPECIAL TEAMS: C plus. Tre McBride had a good day in his NFL debut, forcing a fumble that the Titans recovered and also having a 31-yard kickoff return in sloppy conditions. The negative here was a blocked PAT on Ryan Succop's first try.
--COACHING: C. It's hard to give high marks here because the same mistakes keep continuing, and it's uncertain exactly how much of that is on the players and how much is on the coaches perhaps being too trusting in certain situations. But the one thing you can say for Mularkey is that the players for the most part keep buying in.
