This time, it’s defense that saves day
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Raiders flipped roles Sunday just a little bit to score a 17-10 win over the Tennessee Titans.
The defense didn’t complete a full turnaround from its struggles of the first two weeks, but played well enough to help Oakland (21) win its second straight road game this season.
“We can get off their backs now,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said of the defense. “They won the game for us.”
The Titans (1-2) still went for 393 yards, almost a quarter of which came on their final drive of the game as they nearly drove for a game-tying score. But two key penalties went against Tennessee and the Raiders won when Marcus Mariota’s pass to Harry Douglas on fourth-and-4 from the 12-yard line was incomplete.
Tennessee was hoping for a penalty on TJ Carrie on the flag, but none was thrown and the Raiders celebrated a needed victory.
“I think it was excellent coverage,” Carrie said with a big smile.
The Titans had a 13-yard touchdown pass to Andre Johnson two plays earlier that was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on him as he pushed off on Carrie. There was also a crucial 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Taylor Lewan after Mariota completed pass to Tajae Sharpe to reach the 3.
The victory meant the Raiders have won their first two road games for the first time since 2002.
Del Rio seemed to be more heavily involved in the defense this game as the Raiders looked to shore up their issues from the past two weeks, which included allowing 500-plus yards in back-to-back games, and he was pleased to see some strides.
“I saw glimpses of what it should look like,” Del Rio said of his defense. “Nowhere near what it needs to be yet, but certainly reasons to be optimistic, which I am.”
The Raiders entered the game with the NFL’s topranked offense, but struggled after putting up all 17 of their points in the first half.
“This is a stingy defense,” Del Rio said of the group coached by 79-year-old Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau. “I thought we did enough today to get a win.”
Oakland opened the game with a touchdown on the opening drive for the first time this season, with Latavius Murray juking a defender on his way to a 22-yard score. It’s the first time in his career he’s had three straight games with a touchdown.
The Raiders defense was strong in the first half after allowing a 58-yard drive for a field goal to open the game, allowing just 94 yards on the Titans’ five other possessions.
Sebastian Janikowski gave the Raiders a 10-3 lead midway through the second quarter with a 52-yard field goal, which broke a tie with Jason Hanson and gives him the most 50-plus yard field goals in NFL history with 53. That score was set up by a Mariota fumble forced by Bruce Irvin and recovered by Reggie Nelson.
After the Raiders forced a punt, they effectively went into two-minute mode.
Carr converted a thirdand-6 with a 17-yard pass to Amari Cooper to get the drive humming and DeAndre Washington broke free for a 30-yard run and then again for 14 yards. The capper was a thing of beauty when Carr hit Seth Roberts on a short out route and Roberts blazed past Brice McCain for a 19-yard touchdown.
The touchdown came after Roberts had a pair of bad drops earlier in the game, and the score ended up being the decisive points. It came in the same end zone in which he caught the game-winning touchdown in last year’s game in Tennessee.
The Raiders never added on and the Titans proved it would be a game when they powered 91 yards for a touchdown drive on their first possession of the third quarter. DeMarco Murray found the pylon on a 5-yard run to make it 17-10.
Sean Smith made his first big play as a Raider early in the fourth quarter when he intercepted Mariota, but that was essentially negated three plays later when Carr threw his first interception of the season. That was also the team’s first turnover through the first three games.
It turned into a game of back-and-forth of punts, with third down drops by the Raiders’ Amari Cooper and the Titans’ Rishard Matthews both hurting their teams.
On Tennessee’s final drive, gaining yards started looking too easy again. The first four plays went for 10, 25, 23 and 19 yards until the unsportsmanlike penalty backed them up and gave the Raiders a reprieve of which they took advantage.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that we’re where we need to be, but today we definitely were on the same page out there,” said Smith, who played well after two miserable games to start the season.
The Raiders reached a Super Bowl the last time they won their first two road games, something that’s way too early to consider. But with next week’s trip to face the Baltimore Ravens, they’re a week a way from completing this tough three out of four on the road to start the season.