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When an NFL team turns the final seconds of a game into a clock-management disaster, everyone notices.
Fans yell at their televisions. Analysts pick apart the decisions. Social media delivers its verdict.
Inside the Raiders’ building, there is another response.
Save the tape. There is a lesson in there.
The late-game mistakes that generate so much attention around the NFL also become teaching material for teams determined to avoid making the same errors.
For Raiders coach Klint Kubiak, that weekly education is coordinated by coaching analyst Rohit Mogalayapalli, special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis and assistant head coach Mike McCoy.
“They do such a great job of putting together teach tapes for our guys each week, and we use the good and the bad every week from around the league to make sure that we’re on top of our stuff,” Kubiak said.
Sunday provided plenty of material.
The Giants were positioned for a potential winning field goal in overtime against Washington when a handoff to Cam Skattebo resulted in a fumble. Given their own opportunity, the Commanders reached field-goal range, then squandered precious seconds without a timeout. Jayden Daniels was tackled on their final play, and time expired before Washington could attempt a kick. The result: a 27-27 tie.
The Eagles delivered another painful lesson against Jacksonville. An incompletion and a reception ending out of bounds helped preserve the Jaguars’ final timeout before Philadelphia kicked a go-ahead field goal with eight seconds remaining. A returnable kickoff then became a 53-yard return, setting up Jacksonville’s winning field goal.
Different mistakes. Same reminder: Understanding the situation matters as much as executing the play.
“We call it the fourth phase,” Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “We got three phases in football. The fourth phase is situational game management, and you got to be a situational master.”
That education stretches from offseason workouts through training camp and into weekly presentations. The Raiders also incorporate situations into their walk-throughs, giving players opportunities to recognize the circumstances, discuss their responsibilities and rehearse their responses.
The objective is to make the correct decision familiar before urgency makes it difficult.
Even experience offers no guarantee, as Cousins pointed out about how he handled a final-second sequence in a loss to Kansas City.
“I wish I had been better at the end of the Chiefs game,” Cousins said.
That admission explains why the work never stops. Knowing what to do in a meeting room and processing everything in a frantic finish are different challenges.
“So, sometimes the bullets are flying, it’s going fast, and you’ve got a lot to process,” Cousins said. “But the better you can handle those situations, they tend to be the inches that make the difference.”
For the Raiders, someone else’s mistake is an opportunity to gain those inches before a game depends on them.