Oakland atop AFC West with Chiefs and Chargers
Early Sunday afternoon, the crowd at the Coliseum erupted into cheers at the sight of the score of a game being played in a stadium thousands of miles away.
The Chiefs, who have spent all season with at least a share of the AFC West lead, had lost to the New York Jets. Several hours later, quarterback Derek Carr knelt to drain the final seconds from a 24-17 win over the Giants — a victory that allowed the Raiders to seize a share of first place in the division.
With the Chargers also beating the Browns, there is a three-way tie among 6-6 teams atop the AFC West after Week 13. The Raiders have a .500 record for the first time since Week 4, with a showdown in Kansas City looming next Sunday.
“All the goals that we set when the season
started are right there in front of us,” head coach Jack Del Rio said.
The Raiders played a 2-5 stretch this season and have their offense and defense both ranked in the bottom half of the league in yardage. Yet they share a predicament with the Chiefs, who began the season winning five straight before stumbling, and the Chargers, who started 0-4.
“The NFL, you know, crazy,” Carr said. “You have to stay the course. … You wish you could just go out, win them all, and do it in a good way. But that hasn’t been our road this year.”
Sunday’s was not one of the prettier wins. Marshawn Lynch recorded his first 100yard rushing game as a Raider and the defense held an opponent under 300 total yards for the second game in a row. But Oakland led just 10-7 after three quarters, and needed two late touchdown drives to dispatch a pesky two-win Giants team.
DeAndre Washington’s 9-yard touchdown run with 10:18 remaining had Oakland’s kickoff team dancing. But the Giants countered with a nineplay, 88-yard drive capped by Geno Smith’s 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Evan Engram, closing to 17-14.
On the ensuing drive, Carr found Cordarrelle Patterson for a 59-yard catch-and-run up the left sideline. It was Patterson’s second big play in the final minutes in two weeks, and it set up Carr’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Holton, who had lost a fumble earlier in the game.
“I felt like I had to make a play for my team,” said Holton, who had three catches for 39 yards in a game the Raiders played without top receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. “I didn’t come out as good as I wanted to come out, but we won the game.”
Del Rio cited Patterson’s catch as one of three key plays that stood out “like grownman ball.” Another was a 21-yard catch by Lynch that set up Washington’s fourthquarter touchdown, a play on which Lynch caught a short pass from Carr and juked a pair of Giants defenders.
Lynch surpassed his season high in rushing before halftime and finished with 17 carries for 101 yards, his first 100-yard game since Oct. 22, 2015. He carried the ball on three straight plays on Oakland’s opening drive, bursting up the middle on the third behind a block by guard Kelechi Osemele for a 51-yard touchdown — the fifth-longest scoring run of his career and his longest run overall in a Raiders uniform.
“We had the look that we wanted,” Carr said. “We ran it power scheme. Backside linebacker came to play … the safety fit on the same side and Marshawn was able to pop free.”
But while the Giants failed to record a first down on their first three drives, the Raiders could not put them away. Smith, starting in place of Eli Manning, led an 11-play, 74yard touchdown drive to close the first quarter, finishing the day 21-for-34 for 212 yards and a touchdown.
Smith, though, was sacked three times and fumbled twice. Linebacker Bruce Irvin forced the first fumble, which was recovered by NaVorro Bowman and led to a 39-yard Giorgio Tavecchio field goal that gave the Raiders a 10-7 lead. Smith’s second fumble was the last big play cited by Del Rio.
The Giants appeared poised to at least tie the game after they’d swarmed punter Marquette King at the Raiders’ 9 with 46 seconds left before halftime. But two plays later, Khalil Mack knifed into the backfield, hit Smith and wrestled the ball away as they went to the ground.
“They’re knocking on the door right there,” Del Rio said. “They’re certain to get points, or have a high likelihood of getting some points. To snuff it out right like that, take the ball off him, that was huge.”