Oakland’s early arrival pays off against Bears and Jacobs profits
A pumped-up Jon Gruden was already bouncing up and down by the time he started on the locker room victory speech to his Oakland Raiders players. “I don’t have a disco here but let’s all start dancing,” he hollered. “I’m 56 years old and I’ve never had more fun than tonight. I’m so proud of you, you don’t know. You just showed that you can beat anyone, anywhere on any fucking time zone. Now have the whole week off.”
With apologies for his French, the American coach had put his finger on it. His Raiders had come back to win in Indianapolis last weekend, but doing it against play-off contenders the Chicago Bears, late on, and in London, seemed like a statement worth commemorating. The Raiders have played in London twice before and lost both times. Last year, after a humbling defeat to the Miami Dolphins, Gruden said the main lesson he had learned was that jetlag mattered. This year the Raiders had been in the UK since Monday, the Bears only rocked up on Thursday. It was clear which of the two sides was the sleepier.
A late, majestic leap into the endzone by player of the game Josh Jacobs meant the Raiders came away 24-21 winners over the Bears at the first NFL London game of the year and the first ever at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
The brand-new ground, the first purpose-built NFL stadium outside of the United States, had a good night itself creating a constant spectacle of light and noise, even during play. The visitors liked it too, with Bears coach Matt Nagy describing it as “phenomenal”. It was pretty much the only positive adjective he used in his postgame remarks.
Whether suffering from the time difference or not, the Bears didn’t turn up in the first half. Their normally redoubtable defence, that had conceded just five touchdowns in their first four matches, gave up two in five minutes in the second quarter. They weren’t helped by the enforced departure of defensive end Akiem Hicks with an elbow injury, but there was another player missing too. After a pre-game that had concerned itself with the trade which saw Khalil Mack leave the Raiders for the Bears last year (Mack calling the fixture a ‘grudge match’) the star linebacker failed to impose himself on the Bears’ defensive plays.
The extra irony of all this was that it was Mack’s departure that helped usher in Jacobs’ arrival , the Raiders taking a first round draft pick from the Bears and using it to select the University of Alabama running back. Jacobs scored the opening touchdown, dancing through the centre of the Bears defence to bring an end to a 10 play, 90yard drive.
His ability to run with the ball then became a release valve as the Bears rediscovered their appetite and piled on the pressure in the third quarter, coming back from 17-0 down at halftime to lead 20-17. (For the record it was Mack who gobbled up the interception that eventually led to David Montgomery’s opening touchdown).
There were topsy-turvy moments, interceptions from the Bears’ standin quarterback Chase Daniels, one of which was contentiously ruled out after he was adjudged to have been hit after releasing. There was also a fake punt from the Raiders that almost went horribly wrong only for the referees to overturn a ruling on a fumble. Then came the final moment of reckoning, a 14-play progression that moved from Oakland’s three-yard line remorselessly up the field. Jacobs ran the ball on four of those plays. Finally it was first down on the Chicago two-yard line, and quarterback Derek Carr handed the ball off to Jacobs. He fixed his eyes on the heart of the line once more, the Bears by now ravenous. But instead of shimmying he hurled himself as much as five foot off the ground to clear the perimeter security and seal the game.
“He proved a lot tonight,” said Gruden of the rookie on whom he had put his faith. “He made some great runs. We’ve been talking about our young players since they’ve been here, the kind of effort that they provide and the smartness that they play with. We’ve got a good feeling going right now.”