Raiders end Lions’ hopes at the 1-yard line
OAKLAND — The Raiders broke up a Matt Stafford pass in the end zone with three seconds to go Sunday to preserve a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions at the Coliseum.
Quarterback Derek Carr led a 75-yard scoring drive for the winning points, a drive that included passes of 31 and 23 yards to running back Jalen Richard. He finished the drive by buying time, rolling to his left, and firing a 9-yard strike to Hunter Renfrow for a touchdown with 2:04 to play.
The Raiders hit the midway point of the season with a 4-4 record — better than most anticipated when they departed for their five-game road trip. Detroit fell to 3-4-1, with the Raiders defense tightening up just enough for a close win.
Studs — Derek Carr: The Raiders quarterback completed 20 of 30 passes for 289 yards, a 9yard touchdown pass to Renfrow and a 3-yard scoring strike to Foster Moreau on a third down play. The last scoring drive covered 75 yards in seven plays.
Josh Jacobs: Broke Marcus Allen’s rookie rushing record of 697 yards (in a nine-game, strike-shortened season) in the first half and rushed for 120 yards on a career-high 20 carries. Opened the Raiders scoring with a 2-yard run with help from lead blocker Alec Ingold.
Matt Stafford: Lions veteran quarterback Matt Stafford had his way with the Raiders secondary for much of the day, particularly with downfield strikes to Marvin Jones Jr. (47 yards) and Kenny Golladay (59 yards for a touchdown). Stafford was 26 of 41 for 406 yards.
Marvin Jones: An eight-year veteran out of Cal, Jones a leaping 47-yard catch against Daryl Worley to help set up the Lions first touchdown and finished with seven catches for 119 yards.
Daryl Worley’s interception: The Raiders gave up plenty of plays to Stafford and Co., but Worley came up with a big stop when he out-fought Golliday in the end zone for a first-half interception on a pass from Stafford, giving the ball back to the Raiders on the 20-yard line.
Duds — Pass defense: No surprise really, given that opposing quarterbacks came in with an aggregate passer rating of 115.5. Stafford had open receivers most of the day, save for a few plays. Arden Key had the lone sack, Benson Mayowa once pressured Stafford into an incompletion.
But the twin evils of rush and coverage continued to perplex the Raiders throughout. A 26yard pass interference by Nevin Lawson set up the Lions for their final scoring opportunity, which was incomplete with
Trayvon Mullen defending.
Hudson’s absence, Trent Brown’s injury: Raiders center Rodney Hudson had a streak of 59 straight starts snapped when he couldn’t play due to an ankle injury. Undrafted rookie free agent Andre James started in his place, and had issues with shotguns naps on occasion, including one rolled back to Carr that the Raiders’ quarterback had to throw away.
Brown was lost in the first half to a knee injury, attempted to come back, and then left after a few plays. David Sharpe, who played the entire Green Bay game in place of Brown, took over at right tackle.