Dominic Raiola Explains Miscommunication On Final Play Of Titans Game

Following Sunday's loss to the Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said that a miscommunication was to blame for the botched fourth-and-one on the final play of the game. Instead of lining up and simply trying to draw the Titans offside, the Lions snapped the ball and were stopped short of the first down.

On Monday, center Dominic Raiola revealed that he was the source of the miscommunication. The miscommunication happened when Raiola thought Hill called for a running play rather than simply trying to draw the Titans offside. Via MLive, here is Raiola's explanation for what happened:

"That's just on me, execution on my part," Raiola said on Monday.

"We tried to get up on the ball and run a play that wasn't supposed to be snapped and I totally read Shaun's lips the wrong way. I ran a fullback dive."

That explains why only Raiola moved initially. Shaun Hill moved after he reacted to the snap, but he clearly wasn't expecting to get the ball. To his credit, Raiola is accepting full blame for what happened, and he admitted that he let everybody down.

While Raiola certainly made a mistake, Schwartz said on Monday that it ultimately goes back to the head coach. Perhaps the most notable thing Schwartz said was this: "No downside ended up having a downside." Schwartz didn't think there was any way that play could be screwed up so badly, but we all found out on Sunday that a downside definitely exists if everybody isn't on the same page.

Reminder: You can follow Pride Of Detroit on Twitter and like us on Facebook.