It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for the Las Vegas Raiders. On Sunday, they traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos, ultimately winning the game 22-16 when Derek Carr hit a wide-open Davante Adams for a 35-yard touchdown pass.
Denver led 16-13 with under two minutes remaining when Carr led the Raiders 71 yards to kick a game-tying field goal. The crucial play on the game-tying drive was a 43-yard pass to Josh Jacobs along the sidelines to put them into field goal range.
Jacobs Ran Hard
The Raiders came into the game looking to get the running game going and Jacobs led the way with 109 yards on 24 carries. Las Vegas’s offensive line did a good job opening up holes for Jacobs as they were able to gash the usually stout Broncos defense for chunk plays.
The 24 year old used good field vision to find gaps, and remained elusive when the original hole wasn’t open. Simply put, the Raiders play well when they can run the ball effectively, and that was on full display this past weekend.
Carr & Adams Were Clicking
Derek Carr finished the game with 307 yards passing and two touchdowns. 141 yards and two touchdowns of that went to his old college buddy Davante Adams.
You could tell early Carr and Adams were on the same page. However, at times it appeared as though Carr only trusted Adams, as he often appeared out of sync with his other receivers.
On the fourth quarter’s final drive, Carr found Keelan Cole for a 21-yard gain and Mack Hollins for a seven-yard gain earlier in the drive. But if the Raiders hope to string any kind of success together, other receivers will need to step up with Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow sidelined.
Raiders’ Defense Played Better
The Raiders’ defense started out slow but picked it up as the game went on. They held the Broncos to 94 yards rushing on the day, a marked improvement from weeks passed. In the first half, the Raiders’ zone defense struggled often resulting in receivers being wide-open for Denver.
In the second, the Raiders’ defense tightened up and made several crucial stops. Las Vegas was able to pressure Wilson as Maxx Crosby had two of the three sacks on the day for the Raiders. Cornerback Tyler Hall added another one of a beautifully designed blitz for good measure. Vegas was also able to get plenty of quarterback hits on Wilson even when the play didn’t result in a sack to ensure he was uncomfortable all afternoon.
Crosby played a hell of game once again totalling six tackles and a crucial blocked field goal before halftime to go along with his two sacks. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings played well in the middle leading the Raiders with seven tackles.
It was a much-needed win for the Raiders. It wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done. Las Vegas will need to work on cutting down their penalties as it often took them out of scoring position, most notably in the first half. As the season wears on, running the ball with Jacobs and feeding Adams should be the focus for the Raiders’ offense.
At 3-7, the Raiders are tied for 11th in the AFC and are well back of the final wildcard spot (currently held by the Bengals at 6-4). With 7 games remaining, anything short of a 5-2 or better record down the stretch will have Vegas on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason.
The Raiders are next in action at 4:05pm ET against the Seattle Seahawks in a must win game.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83
Photo: Jeffrey Beall. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.