You never miss your long snapper until he's gone. Guys play with broken arms to avoid leaving the field; that's how dire it is to go to a backup longer snapper.
The Oakland Raiders had to deal with the problem Monday night when starter Jon Condo was injured. They didn't react well.
Oakland faced a fourth-and-two from the San Diego Chargers 48-yard line early in the third quarter of a tight game Monday night. Dennis Allen choose to punt.
Punting is not necessarily the percentage play. It's really crazy when you just lost your long snapper and the backup hasn't snapped since high school. You know what happened next. The Raiders incurred a penalty before even snapping the ball in a punt formation, and then Travis Goethel threw a ground ball to Shane Lechler.
It shouldn't be that hard to pick up a short-yardage conversion. The Raiders were at midfield where the benefits of a punt are mitigated. Yes, part of Goethel's nightmare night as a fill-in long snapper could have been avoided.
Great coaches are able to adapt. There are plenty of coaches that would go for it on any fourth-and-two in that situation. There are even more coaches that would know to adjust their plan. I have high hopes for Allen, but this was not a great debut. The Raiders were the same old sloppy group.
Goethel went on to snap three more times. The next time it was on a fourth-and-one. The ball was on the Raiders' 29-yard line, but it still would have made sense to go for it considering the circumstances. The punt was blocked.
In the end, Goethel went 1-for-4 in his attempts. Allen tried to play things safe, but his lack of trust in the Raiders' offense ultimately hurt Oakland's chances of surviving an injury to a player no one missed until he was gone.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
