Yellow flags becoming a red flag for Raiders hopes

They came in a variety of forms and with differing levels of effect on the team’s chances to win.

Some were questionable calls, some were obvious and others just flat out silly.

About the only thing the nine penalties called against the Raiders on Sunday had in common is that they all contributed to yet another close loss filled with self-inflicted wounds.

“You saw them. It wasn’t like it was seven offsides penalties or seven offensive holding penalties, or anything like that,” coach Josh McDaniels said at his weekly Monday news conference. “Again, the best thing we can do is keep educating, keep coaching it, keep talking about it. I think our guys want to play penalty-free. They’re not trying to commit penalties, I know that. We’ve just got to make better decisions in certain situations.”

It’s an issue that will need to be cleaned up for the Raiders to have success regardless of who plays quarterback, which McDaniels said Monday will be Jimmy Garoppolo as soon as he clears protocol. Rookie Aidan O’Connell started on Sunday and was sacked seven times while committing three turnovers.

Those mistakes made the task of overcoming all of the infractions even that much more difficult. The Raiders were flagged for nine accepted penalties in Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Chargers, who were called for just four.

It’s certainly not a new problem. They are averaging seven accepted penalties per game, up just slightly from last year when they had the second-highest total in the league with 6.6 each contest.

It started early with a crippling and extremely avoidable penalty on the Chargers’ opening drive. Maxx Crosby forced a fumble on a sack, but cornerback David Long Jr. was lined up in the neutral zone. That turned a turnover into a first down and the Chargers went on to score a touchdown.

Jerry Tillery was ejected for an egregious late hit on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert to turn what would have been a third-and-3 into a first down at the Raiders 14-yard line. Los Angeles scored a touchdown three plays later.

“I talked to him about it,” McDaniels said of the Tillery hit that sparked outrage from the Chargers. “We specifically discussed it. I thought he was making a great effort to get over there. … So, I give Jerry credit for the effort. At that point, the burden is on the defense. If the player steps into the white, you’ve got to not hit him.”

Next was a false start on Jermaine Eluemunor. Jakobi Meyers was called for offensive pass interference on a play where he pushed off to make a 50-yard catch in triple coverage in the final minute of the first half that took away the chance to score points before the break.

The Raiders had a third-and-1 on the first series of the second half turned into a third-and-6 by a false start on Kolton Miller. O’Connell got sacked on the next play and the Raiders had to punt.

Tre’von Moehrig’s long interception return in the third quarter was wiped out by an illegal block on linebacker Robert Spillane.

Meyers was called for a questionable crackback block in the red zone early in the fourth quarter. The penalty, which was followed by another sack, took the Raiders out of field goal range.

“I’ll just say that I didn’t think it was an illegal crackback,” McDaniels said.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.