Late TD pass helps Raiders beat Titans
Oakland shows good side and bad but wins to end 3-game losing streak.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Raiders had a sense of desperation about them Sunday, needing a win to keep any semblance of hope alive this season.
They found a way to get it done, with Derek Carr overcoming a fourth-quarter turnover to rally Oakland to a 24-21 win over the Tennessee Titans at soggy, sparsely-filled Nissan Stadium.
“By any means necessary,” defensive end Khalil Mack said. “Whatever it takes.”
Carr threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts with 1 minute, 21 seconds to go, and Nate Allen sealed the victory when he intercepted Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota with 43 seconds remaining as the Raiders (5-6) ended their seasonlong three-game losing streak.
“I’m really, really proud of our guys. Real resilient,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “We wanted to end the week 1-0 somehow, some way, and I am really proud of the way the guys stayed in it.”
Carr threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, but if
it weren’t for the last one, this game would’ve been remembered for his costly fumble.
With nine minutes to play, Carr fumbled the exchange from center Tony Bergstrom, who started in place of the injured Rodney Hudson. The Titans’ DaQuan Jones hopped on it, and Tennessee (2-9) grabbed a 21-17 lead nine plays later on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to Jalston Fowler.
“I hate when that stuff happens,” said Carr, who indicated the wet weather was a factor. “It wasn’t that we were trying to do anything different or trying to do something to make that happen, obviously. It’s just one of those things that happens.”
The Raiders got the ball back with 4:34 to play. The drive opened with a 16-yard pass to Amari Cooper, who bounced back from last week’s dreadful outing to post his fourth 100-yard game of the season. He had seven catches for 115 yards.
The big strike was a 31yard pass to Roberts, whose six catches and 113 yards gave him his first career 100-yard performance.
The drive had begun to stall when the Raiders faced fourth-and-8 with two minutes to go. Carr tried to find Andre Holmes in the end zone, and it was knocked away, but a defensive holding call gave the Raiders another chance.
Carr hit Mychal Rivera for 19 yards before connecting with Roberts for the game-winner.
“We had to get back on track, play football the way we know we can,” Carr said. “Obviously, we had to deal with the elements and those fun things, but at the end of the day it says win or loss. We knew that it didn’t matter what happened. We had to find a way to do it.”
The Raiders were able to limit the effectiveness of Mariota, who completed a career-worst 46 percent of his passes (17 of 37) and had the third two-interception game of his rookie season.
“We are a passionate defense,” said cornerback David Amerson, who started ahead of DJ Hayden and had six passes defended and an interception. “We go out there and compete, and we keep our offense in the game. We want to create turnovers and just be physical.”
The offense started the game looking as if it might stay stuck in neutral as it had been the past two weeks. The Raiders started with a three-and-out, with Matt McGloin having to replace Carr for a play after he took a hard hit to the ribs.
Oakland punted again on the second drive, blowing an opportunity after getting good field position each time thanks to good punt returns by Jeremy Ross in his first game with the Raiders.
Tennessee took the lead with a touchdown on its third drive, but Denico Autry blocked the PAT. The Raiders nearly had two points of their own as they returned the block all the way to their end zone, with Autry taking it the bulk of the way. But an illegal forward pass negated that.
The Raiders finally scored on their next drive, with Roberts’ 38-yard reception sparking the offense to life and Michael Crabtree catching a 7-yard touchdown.
Oakland led 10-6 at halftime and stretched it to 17-6 on Roberts’ first touchdown, a highlight-worthy play in which he kept his feet after Perrish Cox attempted to tackle him and then dived into the end zone.
The Titans cut it to 17-14 in the third quarter and had a chance to take the lead earlier when Ross fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. But Amerson intercepted Mariota as part of his near-perfect day to prevent a huge momentum swing, which in turn helped the Raiders finally get back on track with a win.
“We have it in us,” Roberts said. “We didn’t give up. We lost three straight, but we bounced back. Away, in the weather. It was tough, but we got it done.”
The playoffs still might be a lofty goal. Four of the Raiders’ final five games are against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended now. But with their backs against the wall against a struggling opponent, the Raiders kept their season alive.
“We’re trying to win,” safety Charles Woodson said. “We went on this little skid for a couple weeks, and we had our opportunity to come on the road and get a win, ugly as it may have been. But, if you get a win, you feel good about it.”