There were times over the last few years when the Raiders’ defense faced a certain down and distance situation against an opposing offense that screamed for a specific defensive response.
In those moments, the eyes of defensive coordinator Paul Guenther would intuitively zero in on that exact call on his play sheet. Every football instinct accumulated across his 26 years of coaching told him it was the right call.
In his head, he composed the verbiage as he prepared to relay the call to the field. But just as his mouth began formulating the words, he had to stop himself.
“Oh, I can’t put this guy in this situation or that guy in that situation,” Guenther remembered thinking, before adjusting to a different call that fit the Raiders’ personnel.
Or, to be perfectly frank, the personnel that simply wasn’t on hand to comfortably allow Gunther to tap into his playsheet and dial up the perfect blitz with just the right coverage behind it to deal with any given situation.