Raiders at Dallas Cowboys: Studs and Duds from 2021 Week 12

Raiders at Dallas Cowboys: Studs and Duds from 2021 Week 12

Dud: Rich Bisaccia

One of the main criticisms Raiders fans had about Jon Gruden was once he got any sort of lead, he was very content to run the ball, and try to run out all of the clock. But when he unceremoniously left earlier this season, and the offense played well and was more aggressive the following two games against the Broncos and Eagles, fans were hoping it was a change in philosophy in the regard.

However, looking at these last four games, especially this one, you can tell the conservative nature is still there.  At the end of the first half, while the Cowboys were driving down the field, head coach Rich Bisaccia was content to let the play clock run down and head to halftime regardless of whether the Cowboys ended up scoring or not on that drive.  When the Raiders got the ball in the second half, they opened up with three straight run plays.

The Raiders need to realize that teams these days are almost always going to be able to come back with the rules favoring the offenses so much, so they need to keep their foot on the gas from the starting whistle till the end of the game.  But Bisaccia’s game management is not the only reason he made the duds list.

Bisaccia is a long-time special teams coach and a former Cowboys special teams coach.  Two weeks ago, against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chiefs were able to pull off a fake punt play for a first down, which shouldn’t happen if your head coach is a special teams guy.  This game was an even worse showing in that department, as the Cowboys’ backup running back Tony Pollard was virtually untouched on a 100-yard kick return touchdown.

Bisaccia needs to not only continue to get this team back together but he needs to take a closer look to see what is going on in his specialty which is special teams.