The one that got away
time, the defense did not record a stop as Houston’s offense produced 17 points while holding the ball for nearly 21 minutes.
Watson threw for 156 yards in the second half and rushed for 34 more as the Texans rolled the dynamic quarterback to his right, where he could make plays in the open field.
“He’s a guy that can get out of the pocket,” Raiders defensive back Lamarcus Joyner said. “So that’s what the coaches resorted to on their side, getting him out of the pocket with his speed and letting him use his vision in the holes.”
As a result, an Oakland offense that averaged 7.1 yards per play Sunday had just three possessions in the second half. On their first possession after halftime, quarterback Derek Carr hit receiver Tyrell Williams for a 46yard touchdown to cap a sixplay drive that lasted 2:35.
When the Raiders next touched the ball, it was after a 15play touchdown drive by the Texans (53) that ate up nearly eight minutes.
“We went down and scored and next thing I knew, it was the fourth quarter,” right guard Gabe Jackson said. “I was like, ‘Damn. That went by quick.’ ”
Carr also had firsthalf touchdown passes of 65 yards to rookie Hunter Renfrow — who slipped two ankle tackles on a slant route — and 8 yards to tight end Darren Waller. With the Raiders’ running game held under 100 yards (93) for the first time since Week 3, and the Texans missing three starters in their secondary, Carr completed 18 of 30 passes for 285 yards.
“I think we did a good job of going after some of those openings,” Carr said. “We only had a couple possessions in the second half, so we didn’t get to attack them as much as we wanted.”
Carr, though, appeared out of sync at times with Waller, who had two catches for 11 yards on eight targets. Williams, who missed the previous two games with plantar fasciitis, finished with three catches for 91 yards but rued two missed connections with Carr on the Raiders’ final possession.
With 5:49 left, Carr hit Williams for a 22yard pass to the Texans’ 45yard line. On the next play, Carr attempted a deep throw up the right sideline to Williams that bounced off the receiver’s hands. On 3rdand16, Carr went back to Williams, who couldn’t secure the catch while dealing with cornerback Gareon Conley.
“I’ve just got to come down with it,” Williams said. “Just got to be strong with it at the point of contact. That’s really all it is.”
Said Carr: “I know there are two there that he wants back. … (But) if we don’t connect, if I miss a throw, the ball’s still coming with confidence.”
Conley, the Raiders’ 2017 firstround pick, had been traded to the Texans last Monday and had been in coverage on Williams’ earlier touchdown. Asked later whether he took added satisfaction out of a win over the Raiders, Conley told reporters: “No.”
That 3rdand16 resulted from a holding call on left guard Richie Incognito, one of 11 penalties against the Raiders on Sunday. Afterward, several players said that it seemed the Raiders had let a potential win slip away in their fifth consecutive game away from the Coliseum.
“This was a really, really big game,” defensive end Clelin Ferrell said. “Would have put a great cap on our road trip. So this one hurt really, really bad. But we’ve got to put it behind us.”