Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders must win matchup vs. the Minnesota Vikings where the Vikings pulled away behind Adrian Peterson's 80 yard TD run and Cordarrelle Patterson's 93 yard TD return.
The reason why I pinpointed those particular Vikings plays on the headline, those were just backbreaking plays. The Raiders kept hanging in there for the most part of the game. Carr gets two drives to put the Raiders to a 13-14 lead and then, it's just gone. The Vikings controlled the majority of the game with the lead. There were just too many mistakes and too many penalties this game.
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Pass rush. I guess this could be the only positive I can pinpoint. Aldon Smith, Khalil Mack, and Mario Edwards, Jr. managed 1 sack each. It's not a promising stat line, but I thought they did a good job for the most part, disrupting Teddy Bridgewater and collapsing the Vikings' O-line. Nate Allen and T.J. Carrie's return definitely helped in that department to transform the secondary from "atrocious" to "OK." Other than that, not too much positives, but the Raiders managed to get to the quarterback.
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Special teams. I'm going to refer back to that Cordarrelle Patterson TD return. That play completely took momentum out of the way for the Raiders. I didn't understand what was Sebass thinking in not booting that ball at the back of the Vikings' own end zone. Those squib kicks just disrupt the flow of the special teams coverage and Patterson just went "bye-bye" to the Raiders' special teams coverage.
Other backbreaking plays. From Derek Carr's 2nd INT in the end zone to Adrian Peterson's 80 yard TD to seal the deal. Those are the kinds of plays that stall a comeback bid. Andre Holmes should've fought for that ball and bat it out of Newman's hands to allow the drive to live for another day. Adrian Peterson's 80 yard TD run, I would assume the Raiders' run defense just gave up on that play. Don't get me wrong, AP is a future legend, but that was the worst effort I've seen to tackle a 30 year old running back.
Conclusion
The Bills took care of the Jets on Thursday night and the Raiders own the tiebreaker over them, the Chiefs are taking care of business against the Broncos. Peyton Manning, 34 passing yards, benched after breaking Brett Favre's record for most passing yards. These are scenarios that the Raiders need to learn how to take advantage of, while the Vikings took advantage of their opportunities since Green Bay lost three times and the Vikings have temporary control of the NFC North. This was a very disappointing game and the margin for error is starting to be slim to none if the Raiders want to make the wild card. The next series of games: Detroit, Tennessee, and Kansas City are pivotal and will tell whether or not the Raiders are playoff-ready because they are winnable. While at the same time, all three games have the makings of a "trap game" considering the Lions and the Chiefs took care of the Packers and Broncos both on the road and they'll be looking to ride that momentum. But, the focus now is Detroit and the Raiders have no room for error at this point of the season. I'll see you guys next week for the Lions game.
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