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Does Jon Gruden know you can't challenge plays with less than 2 minutes left?

jack baer
Staff writer

The never-ending sitcom that is Jon Gruden’s first year helming the Oakland Raiders in his return to the NFL got its latest episode on Sunday, when Gruden resorted to extreme measures to display his ire over a questionable Kansas City Chiefs touchdown.

With only seven seconds remaining in the first half, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce in the end zone to give Kansas City a 19-7 lead heading into halftime. However, on further review, it appeared the ball came loose in Kelce’s hand as he fell to the ground.

Jon Gruden really didn’t like that Chiefs TD

The call stood after replay review, but Gruden decided he wanted another look, or another chance to yell at the refs, so he challenged the call.

There’s a good chance Jon Gruden simply wanted to scream at the refs as long as possible. (AP)
There’s a good chance Jon Gruden simply wanted to scream at the refs as long as possible. (AP)

There was only one problem with that decision: NFL coaches aren’t allowed to challenge a call with less than two minutes remaining in a half.

Gruden’s illegal challenge ultimately cost the Raiders a timeout, which wasn’t a huge price in the grand scheme of things. It was just another bad look for a coach who has drawn plenty of mockery as he leads the 2-10 Raiders (they eventually lost on Sunday) through a surprise rebuilding year for the notoriously high price of a $100 million contract.

Jon Gruden says he knew he wasn’t allowed to challenge play that he challenged

On Monday, Gruden took the opportunity of a question about Martavis Bryant to address his errant challenge. The gist of it: Gruden said it was all part of a plan to force replay officials in New York City into taking another look at the play.

So there you have it. That’s a bold move considering the replay official had already ruled on the play and overturning the call at that point would have been an outrageous flip-flop, but Jon Gruden is nothing if not bold.

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