The Oakland Raiders week one win over the Denver Broncos was marred by penalties as the Raiders were flagged 15 times for 131 yards.
This, however, is nothing new, the Raiders have struggled with penalties for years now. And for years now, Raiders head coaches have sworn that their number one priority was to get the team disciplined and cut down on the penalties.
Obviously no one has lived up to that promise yet. The Raiders were the most penalized team in the NFL last season and are well on their way to repeating that dubious honor this season. Not surprisingly, Jackson has numerous times this week stated that his biggest goal right now is to cut down on the penalties.
Forgive me for not holding my breath.
While I am not convinced that Jackson will be able to put an immediate end to a problem that has plagued the Raiders for such a long time, I have to give him credit for being pro active and trying to do something about the penalties other than talking about them.
Steve Corkran, who covers the Raiders for the Bay Area News Group, tweeted on Wednesday that Coach Jackson had three NFL officials at practice to make sure that the Raiders were not just practicing their plays, but practicing discipline as well.
I really like this idea a lot. Discipline is something that comes with time and persistence. Having officials in the face of Raiders players at practice should help them keep their minds in the game come Sunday.