Defensive effort wasted; losing season ensured
PHILADELPHIA — The Raiders gave away a game on Christmas night.
With five turnovers in the second half, the Raiders wasted a stout defensive effort against the third-ranked offense in the NFL and fell 19-10 to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
A 48-yard field goal by Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott with 22 seconds left broke a 10-10 tie, and the Eagles added insult by returning a fumble for a touchdown on the final play of the game.
The Raiders’ defense held the Eagles to 216 total yards and forced two turnovers. But the effort went for naught as the Raiders were ensured a losing record in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations.
“It was a defensive battle tonight, hard-fought game,” Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio said. “We certainly had our chances.”
In the second half, Oakland started five drives with field position of their own
41-yard line or better. Those drives ended in two interceptions, a fumble, a punt and a missed field goal.
Del Rio said he told the locker room after the game: “Football is a team game. There’s no, ‘Our side played well,’ or, ‘This phase played well.’ It did, and it does. But it’s a team. We win or lose as a team.”
Said right tackle Marshall Newhouse: “We didn’t hold up our end of the bargain for the defense.”
Derek Carr completed 15 of 29 passes for 140 yards and two interceptions, the second of which was disastrous. After the Raiders got the ball back at their 46 with 1:07 left in a tied game, Carr threw a pass for Amari Cooper that was picked off by Ronald Darby, setting up Elliott’s decisive field goal.
“They were playing just man coverage,” Carr said. “So I went with the one-on-one to our X, as a slant. We didn’t make the play.”
For the Raiders, who were eliminated from postseason contention Sunday, there were positives before the disappointment.
First, the defense continued to show improvement under coordinator John Pagano. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who had thrown for four touchdowns last week against the Giants, completed 19 of 38 passes for 163 yards. The Raiders recorded two sacks and an interception and held the Eagles to a 1for-14 mark on third downs.
Philadelphia did convert two fourth-down attempts, one of which led to a 17-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Foles to running back Jay Ajayi in the first quarter.
Second, Cooper returned from an ankle injury that has sidelined him for most of the past month and showed glimpses of his past explosiveness on a 63-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Lined up wide right, Cooper ran a slant-and-go that fooled cornerback Jalen Mills and created separation for Cooper, who recorded his first catch since Nov. 26.
It was one of just three catches on four targets for Cooper, though, and it accounted for nearly half of Carr’s passing yards.
“Obviously, once we hit the first one they weren’t going to let us have another one,” Carr said. “We had a couple opportunities, but for the most part they did a good job of staying on top.”
The Raiders gained 137 rushing yards on an Eagles defense that came in allowing 71.5 yards a game, best in the NFL. But they failed to turn possessions into points, and the inconsistency of their offense remains a concern going forward.
“Look, I know that’s going to be a continuing conversation for us,” Del Rio said. “I’m just tonight going to talk about, we win and lose as a football team.”
The Raiders escaped the first half tied 7-7 after Elliott missed a 33-yard field goal try, and took a 10-7 lead early in the third on a 25-yard field goal by Giorgio Tavecchio.
Carr threw his first interception with 4:16 left in the third. The Raiders’ defense wrested the ball back on a forced fumble, but on the very next play, Marshawn Lynch committed his first fumble since 2014 at Oakland’s 30, leading to a gametying 35-yard field goal by Elliott.
Tavecchio missed a 48-yard attempt with 8:03 left. Raiders safety Reggie Nelson intercepted a tipped Foles pass on the next play, atoning for a dropped interception earlier in the game. But the Raiders’ offense again gave the ball back, on Jalen Richard’s fumble in the red zone.
“What sets you apart at the end of the day and leads you onwards and upwards in the playoffs and beyond is, you take way more than you give,” Newhouse said. “When they give you opportunities, you slam the door shut.
“We haven’t done that enough this year. And we definitely didn’t do that enough tonight.”