Courageous Jack Del Rio changes culture in Oakland

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Courageous Jack Del Rio changes culture in Oakland Published: Oct 09, 2016 at 08:33 PM Michael Silver OAKLAND -- felt the heat, racing away from onrushing linebacker and hurrying a short pa s to that had no chance of being completed. With 1:15 remaining in the third quarter of a game the trailed by five points, it looked like Oakland kicker would be summoned from the bench for a field-goal attempt, and 54,275 fans simultaneously let out groans of disappointment. Then, in an instant, they were reminded who their head coach was, and all was suddenly well in Raider Nation. And in retrospect, with the home team facing a fourth-and-3 from the San Diego 21-yard-line, had they expected Jack Del Rio to play it safe? Because five games into what could end up being a special season for the Silver and Black, Del Rio's players and a sistant coaches absolutely, positively did not. As veteran receiver would tell me in a private moment at his locker following the ' at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, "You already know what time it is. You already know about Coach. He believes in us, so we've got to have his back. It all goes together. We take care of each other." On the defining play of Sunday's game, Crabtree took care of his coach -- and his quarterback, who'd boldly checked out of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave's higher-percentage play call -- in a big way. With cornerback shadowing him stride for stride down the right sideline, Crabtree reached out and deftly cradled Carr's rainbow of a throw a couple of yards past the right pylon, providing what would prove to be the winning points in a topsy-turvy clash between AFC West rivals. And when it was over, embattled coach Mike McCoy was being publicly trashed for playing it safe in the final minutes -- attempting what would have been a game-tying field goal on fourth-and-1 from the Oakland 18, only to have the snap slip through the hands of holder -- while Del Rio's was hailed by the ma ses. Call him : Beginning with a bold two-point conversion call in the final minute of last month's season opener that gave the a 35-34 road victory over the , Del Rio has infused the Silver and Black with a swagger that evokes memories of the franchise's glory days, and the bravado seems to be contagious. "Well, I think it probably champion . "The thinking is, You've got to have the courage to make the call, Joonas Donskoi Men Jersey and the trust for them to get it done. "And then, when you do it, and you show them that trust, and they act on it, and they do the right thing -- then it builds your confidence." If Del Rio and his players are confident that the can achieve their first winning season and postseason appearance since the 2002 season (one which ended with the to former Oakland coach Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), it's largely because of the young man directing Musgrave's offense. Now in his third season, Carr is a strong-armed pa ser who has a strikingly advanced grasp of the Oakland attack, and an audacious personality that jibes perfectly with that of his head coach. After Del Rio left the ' offense on the field for that fourth-and-3 play late in the third quarter, Musgrave dialed up a call that had Crabtree and Cooper running short slants past the first-down marker. Carr (25 for 40, 317 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) surveyed the line of scrimmage, saw the ' defensive alignment and decided he'd take his chances going up top to Crabtree against single-coverage, despite some previous misfires on Sunday. "Derek calls it based on what he sees," Musgrave explained after the game. "Nice call, Derek." Suffice it to say that Musgrave -- and Del Rio -- might not have been quite as enthusiastic about the audible as the ball was in the air. "Oh man, it was (up there) a time," Carr said. "That's one Coach (Musgrave) will be a little upset at me for. He wanted a slant. I wanted him to go deep. I just felt it. I'm sure when he saw that ball leave my hand, he was like, 'What are you thinking?' " Admitted Musgrave: "We'd already thrown two or three fades out of bounds. ... Oh well, he's the man on the field. You've just gotta go with it." "It was like, 'No, no, no, no -- yeaaaahhhh,' " Del Rio said, laughing. "At the end of the day, I really felt like it was the right thing to do." A se sing such scenarios in an environment as high-profile as the NFL, of course, can be a cold and unforgiving endeavor, as both Del Rio and McCoy acutely understand. In a busine s in which a tipped pa s, a controversial call or a replay official's definition of "indisputable" can inform public opinion and reshape career trajectories, the rival coaches left the Coliseum heading down opposite paths -- Del Rio on his way to becoming the organization's most revered power broker since legendary owner Al Davis' pa sing, McCoy po sibly bound for the unemployment line. With the (1-4) having previously lost three games in which they were ahead with two minutes remaining (blowing double-digit, fourth-quarter leads against the and Saints), Sunday's botched snap -- the bookend to Kaser's 16-yard shanked punt on the final play of the third quarter that set up a 32-yard touchdown drive for Oakland -- was not a welcome development for the fourth-year coach. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday morning that McCoy following Thursday night's home game against the . In fairne s to McCoy, the have suffered an unrelenting rash of significant injuries, with key performers such as star wideout , top cornerback and running backs and on injured reserve. Pa s rusher , the third overall pick in the draft, finally made his NFL debut on Sunday, having mi sed the first four games with a hamstring injury following a contract dispute that dragged into late August. Bosa had two sacks and another tackle for lo Bowen Byram Men Jersey s; he and his teammates played hard to the finish, a sign that McCoy has done a good job of motivating his undermanned team. And yet, after running back was stopped just short of a first down on a third-and-2 carry with a little more than two minutes remaining, McCoy, with the ball on the Oakland 18, elected to play for the tie. Del Rio later insisted he agreed with McCoy's decision, saying, "It was the right thing to do at that time; you're gonna execute that play 98 percent of the time." Said one a sistant: "That's a team. I'm not looking forward to playing them again. They're going to win some games." Yet if nothing else, the optics of Sunday's pivotal moments were bad for McCoy, who has been criticized for being overly conservative. And when the field-goal snap slipped through Kaser's hands in surreal fashion, allowing the to kill all but the game's final 11 seconds, the second-gue sing began in earnest. Though quarterback (21 for 30, 359 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions) defended the decision to kick, he may have been a minority among his teammates. Put it this way: Not many people in silver and black were distraught when they saw Rivers heading to the sidelines in that situation. "I'm glad they did (decide to kick)," left tackle said. "I was a little bit relieved . I talked to some of their players after the game. They wanted to go for it." Meanwhile, has become a mantra, one which Del Rio reinforced with his fourth-down gamble on Sunday. "Yeah, I love that," linebacker said. "He believes in his team. He believes in his players. That's all you can ask for in a head coach." Said Carr: "That's my guy. He trusts us. You get fired up when a coach puts his trust in you like that." If Del Rio wanted to establish an aggre sive mindset, he couldn't have succeeded more blatantly than he did in the season opener at the Superdome. Trailing the by seven in the final minutes, Del Rio told his offensive players, "Let's go win the game" before their last drive, then backed up his words by going for two, with Carr finding Crabtree on a fade pattern. Two Sundays ago Carr and Crabtree connected again in the clutch, as the receiver's third touchdown catch, with 2:12 remaining, provided the winning points in a 28-27 road victory over the previously undefeated . Pulling out close games is part of an evolution Del Rio envisioned when he took the job in the shadow of his hometown following the 2014 season. After a nine-year stint as the ' head coach, Del Rio had spent the previous three seasons as the ' defensive coordinator, where he came to regard the as a tragically flawed rival. Upon taking the job in Oakland, Del Rio understood that changing the culture was his most significant challenge. "Well, the basic philosophy was that we're gonna learn how to compete for 60 minutes," he explained. "When we were in Denver, we really felt like, 'Hey, they might hang around and be close for a half, but as soon as something goes wrong, they're gonna fall apart.' And it really kinda was true. "So we had to change that. That's not easy. But the guys understand what it looks like to just stay in and fight. I thought last year we learned that. I think this year we're learning how to not only stay in and fight, but how to execute in those critical situations." On Sunday, one coach played it safe in crunch time, and his team failed to execute -- and his job status may now be in critical condition. Meanwhile, Carr and Crabtree combined for a sublime and timely go-ahead touchdown, and the legend of grew. "I'm not gonna be reckle s," Del Rio insisted. "But I'll look for opportunities to do the right thing. I honestly feel like there are times when being aggre John Wensink Jersey sive is the right thing to do for my team, and you have to be willing to put yourself out there, to have the courage to do what you know is the right thing for your team. And if it doesn't go well, I'm gonna shoulder it. And I'm OK with that." This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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