On the fourth play of game for the Raiders
Week 4 matchup with the Chiefs, the Raiders got caught trying to get a leg up on special teams. The defense held the Chiefs to a three-and-out and just before punter Matt Araiza took the snaps, three Raiders' coverage team players dropped back to block for the return man. Araiza, seeing this, tucked the ball and ran for the first down instead of punting it.The play has drawn some criticism since then, though mostly as part of an overall disastrous day on special teams for the Raiders. This criticism included former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano who appeared on the Pat McAfee show to discuss it in his segment titled "What the Chuck?"
Pagano was McAfee's head coach in Indianapolis, so they have history
together. While dissecting the play, Pagano -- after being sure to say how much he respects Raiders Special Teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis -- noted the Raiders left only five players in the box. To which is response was "I've never seen a Chucking five box!" and McAfee echoed that, saying he'd never seen it either.
It appears DeCamillis was firing back at Chuck Pagano, who criticized the call on @PatMcAfeeShow. Pagano prefaced his comments by saying he has a lot of respect for DeCamillis.
— Sam Warren (@samwarren83) October 9, 2026
DeCamillis' Broncos scored an 83-yard punt return touchdown against Pagano and McAfee's Colts in a… https://t.co/mKzCm16V4m pic.twitter.com/8IBBZqS2Co
Well, DeCamillis recalls things differently. He took exception to the criticism and, when asked about it on Friday, proceeded to call out Pagano and McAfee for being full of it.
"We did it in the first game too against Miami," said DeCamillis. "It's something that a lot of people do around the league. I saw on some podcast where the guy said, 'I've never seen anything like that.' Well, we scored a touchdown against you, dude. So obviously you have."
The play happened when DeCamilis was the Special Teams Coordinator in Denver in 2015 against the Pagano-led Colts. Omar Bolden ran a Pat McAfee punt back 83 yards for the score as the clock hit zero at the end of the first half. Pagano and McAfee seem to have memory-holed that one.
That isn't to say DeCamillis's call was the right one in this instance. He took responsibility for the mistake as well.
"Yeah, that was a total misplay on my part. I got way too greedy," DeCamillis added. "That was not for that part of the field. And really, I should have been much smarter than that because the last time we played (Chiefs ST coordinator Dave) Toub, he talked about some of the battles. Well, the last time we played him in Kansas City, we ran a fake, got a first down on him, and we also got a turnover. So, I guarantee he was probably irritated just like I was after this game. So, that's just how it goes. But it's a great call on their part, and I'll learn from that situation and not get greedy."
Clearly this is a 'both can be true' situation. That DeCamillis made a bad call and perhaps Pagano and McAfee should check their memory so as not to deliver uninformed hot takes.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders STC flames Pat McAfee, Chuck Pagano for criticisms 'we scored a TD against you, dude'
