Mark Davis said it was a fumble and Josh McDaniels agreed.
The two made sure to get that message out of the way early at the introductory press conference for the Raiders' new head coach along with general manager Dave Ziegler.
So with the "Tuck Rule" as a backdrop with its 20-year anniversary and a new ESPN "30 for 30" production, it's at least a little ironic that the Raiders have gone all-in on the Patriot Way.
If having management, personnel, player development and the coaching staff working together in an interlocking system counts for anything, the Raiders might finally be on to something sustainable.
This was no fumble.
Coaches from the Bill Belichick tree haven't exactly overwhelmed, but it sure looks like Davis has seen the error (or errors) of his ways in bringing in McDaniels and Ziegler.
McDaniels hired Patrick Graham away from the New York Giants to be his defensive coordinator. Graham also is steeped in New England's way of doing things, having worked there as an assistant from 2009 through 2015.
The offensive play-caller is a Patriot. The defensive play-caller is a Patriot. The general manager is a Patriot.
While the Patriots have long been a team Raider Nation has come to hate, it turns out Davis has long cast an admiring glance at their way of doing things.
"I've just always seen the Patriots as a team that not only adapts from week to week or half to half, but maybe even series to series," Davis said. "I just believe in Josh's ability to assess a situation and make the changes in real-time, and that's always been something that's impressed me."
But the real change from Davis came in the approach to bring harmony to an organization that has never known it since he assumed control of the Raiders upon his father Al Davis' death more than 11 years ago.
There wasn't a day during that time when all phases of the Raiders were in concert, and we're not just talking about offense, defense and special teams. Their process wasn't ever thorough or precise when it came to making the hires involved in team-building.
Instead, it was Davis reacting in a way that never allowed a truly united effort.
First, Davis hired Reggie McKenzie as general manager without considering another candidate. Then he let McKenzie hire the coach, as long as it wasn't Hue Jackson, who had promised to make changes following the 2011 season that were never his to make.
McKenzie hired Allen. Davis wasn't a fan and rarely spoke to him. McKenzie stripped the roster of bad contracts and repaired the salary cap from damage done by Al Davis. The Raiders had little talent, and Allen made his share of mistakes.
Four games into the 2014 season, Allen was gone after a listless loss in London. McKenzie said it was his call, which it most certainly was after Davis told him Allen had to go.
McKenzie was partial to interim coach Tony Sparano as the successor, but Davis met personally with Jack Del Rio and made the hire. It wasn't as if McKenzie had a choice.
There was a brief upsurge in play and even a 12-win season in 2016. It fell apart in 2017, and Del Rio felt he needed more control of the roster.
Instead, Davis finally talked Jon Gruden into coming out of the broadcast booth, giving him the keys to the soon-to-be Las Vegas kingdom. The hope was McKenzie would be the steadying slow hand to counterbalance Gruden's more impulsive nature.
That didn't work either. McKenzie didn't last the 2018 season. Gruden's hand-picked successor was Mike Mayock, the NFL Network analyst. The Raiders made incremental improvements, going from 4-12 in Gruden's scorched roster first season and then 7-9 and 8-8.
Under Gruden, there were no checks and balances, and he and Mayock misfired on some key early picks.
Then came 2021, with the revelation of Gruden's mysogynistic and racist emails which he believed were private. Gruden resigned under pressure, and the Raiders were, in Davis' words, "rocked to the core."
The death of an innocent motorist which was allegedly hit by wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was next. Yet under interim coach Rich Bisaccia, the Raiders somehow won their last four games to get to 10-7 and make the playoffs.
Davis made the hard choice to move on, and this time the search was thorough and exhaustive — the first time in his ownership there wasn't some sort of knee-jerk response.
"I felt in this time, we were going to do it a little bit differently and try to find a teammate," Davis said of the coach-GM combo.
So Davis hired Ziegler, and then McDaniels — with Ziegler having the final say on matters of the roster and personnel. But they were always a package deal.
Davis got a new stadium in Las Vegas when few thought he could pull it off, which provides the team with a sound economic base it never had in Oakland.
While the Gruden hire turned out to be an exploding cigar, it sure looks as if Davis has learned from his mistakes in putting together the 2022 Raiders.
Having covered the Raiders for 26 years and followed them this year and seen only five teams with records above .500, I've been conditioned to not be overly optimistic.
I'm not sure how good Ziegler and McDaniels will be, but I like the idea of a unified operation with the same vision when it comes to roster selection, development and team-building.
This could work.
