Add center Dominic Raiola to the list of those taking blame for the final play of the Detroit Lions' 44-41 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans.
The Lions were supposed to try to draw the defense offsides on fourth-and-1 from the Tennessee 7-yard line. The ball, however, was snapped when quarterback Shaun Hill stepped under center. Both coach Jim Schwartz and Hill previously took the blame, saying there was a communication issue.
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"I will take all the blame people want to give me," Raiola said, according to the Detroit News. "I know the staff and this locker room has my back and that's the most important thing. You want to question how hard I work, turn on that film and watch me play."
The Lions could have simply lined up and kicked the short field goal to tie the game. The normal offense came out, Hill walked to the line shouting instructions, then set up and began his cadence.
"We were trying to get up on the ball and run a play that wasn't supposed to be snapped," Raiola said. "I totally read Shaun's lips the wrong way. I ran a fullback dive. It was just mis-execution on my part. I thought it was a dive."
Schwartz admitted he was being too aggressive and should have used a timeout if there was any confusion in hurry-up mode.
"I think that is a great example of an overaggressive call by the head coach," Schwartz said. "I mean, we're going into the play, it seemed like there was no downside. 'Hey, try to draw them off.' If we jumped offside or did something else, we move back five yards and we still kick the field goal. We're in certain Jason Hanson range right there.
"But what wasn't supposed to have any downside ended up having a downside and that's on me as a head coach. That was a situation that aggressiveness (going for the first down) would have helped and given us a chance to win the game, instead of just tying the game and continuing -- and it ended up not giving us a chance to tie the game. That's on me."
We all over-think things from time to time. Even NFL coaches. Should have just taken the three points.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
