Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' thrilling matchup vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where the Raiders, with the odds against them throughout the whole game, still managed to just win baby, defeating their Super Bowl 37 nemesis 30-24 in a wild overtime finish.
*911 what's your emergency? Yes, I need some medical assistance because my Raiders are driving me nuts with all these wild game winners and penalties!* How did we win that game? I don't know. Not a lot of things went right for the Raiders which we'll further discuss in this post. But, the will to win. This what that young team displayed out there today. The will to win burns bright on this team. I'm just happy right now. I can't even think right now on what to write. But, let's get right down to business.
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Derek Carr, 40-59 passes, 513 yards, 4 TDs. The CARR-diac kid does it again. The odds were stacked against the Raiders offense big time. Too many pre-snap penalties, holding calls, and all kinds of absurd penalties. How the heck does Carr keep a confident poise? This is why he's our quarterback. That winning mentality Carr has is head above shoulders. He was awesome. No interceptions too, which was pretty astonishing even though he did have that fumble in the 1st quarter. Carr weathered the storm and showed up big time in the 2nd half.
Amari Cooper, 12 receptions, 173 yards, 1 TD. Man, Coop going up against Vernon Hargreaves today took me back when I discovered his talent during the Alabama-Florida game two years. Blake Sims was just heaving it to Coop all game long because the Gators' secondary had no answer for him. Today, it was the same story. Coop got the best of Hargreaves once again. He had the critical drop though at the end of regulation which would've inched Janikowski closer, but this was great bounce back game after Jalen Ramsey kept him in check last week.
Seth Roberts, 3 receptions, 69 yards. 1 TD. That 1 TD is a big one. Big Shot Rob(erts)! He is quite a lucky charm when he scores a TD. When Seth scores a TD, the Raiders win. What a big play on a 4th down to win the game. Black Jack Del Rio rolls the dice again on 4th down and Carr finds Roberts over the middle for a walk off TD. The kid is absolute clutch.
Running game. Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington broke out big yards for big gains. Latavius Murray plowed his way in between the tackles. The running game was pretty solid today despite all the penalties. All three did their jobs to churn up some yardages to take pressure off Carr a little bit.
Khalil Mack, 7 tackles, 2 sacks. The sacks will come. That's the mantra when it comes to Khalil Mack and Mack notches his first multiple sack performance this season. Jameis Winston is a solid scrambling quarterback and Mack managed to get his hands on him as well as doing his job containing the run.
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Penalties. I have a lot of NSFW today to say about the penalties, but I'm gonna try to keep a clean mouth for this post. What a *profane* fest in this category. It was already bad in the first half. The opening of the second half, I thought they had it down, but they just started to become ridiculous by the 4th quarter to overtime. The Raiders committed penalties like it was 2011 when they set the record for most penalties in the season. Today, they set another record in that category in just one game. ONE game. When I was watching on my TV, every penalty called on the Raiders, I feel like I was transforming into a diabolical sociopath. We know, we're accustomed to the refs being against us. But, this was inexcusable for the whole team, especially when they haven't traveled back after last week's win against Jacksonville. Jack Del Rio, the coaches, they have to do a better job in holding these players accountable. I haven't been this upset with the penalty plague since they actually set the single season record in 2011.
Sebastian Janikowski. Sebass has been the Raiders' most consistent player to put points on the board, but it is becoming harder to trust Sebass in game-winning situations. I had flashbacks to that Arizona Cardinals game in 2010 when Bruce Gradkowski set up the potential game-winning field goal. Then, Sebass missed it wide left from 32 yards out. He had two potential game-winning field goals this game. He missed in the 4th quarter and missed in OT which almost cost the Raiders the game. Thank goodness, the defense stepped up big time to get Winston and the Bucs' offense off the field to bail out Janikowski's misses.
MVP
"That's my quarterback." ~ Michael Crabtree. Carr refuses to let the Raiders lose their first road game of the season. Tremendous guts and poise by Carr to remain level-headed and orchestrate another beautiful game-winning drive and an awesome overall performance.
Conclusion
"Oh, Sunday Night." "Oh Sunday Night!" The Raiders had to take care of business in Tampa Bay to wrap up their Florida road trip before looking towards the Sunday Night matchup vs. Denver. Now, the stage is set for a big time AFC West matchup. Against the Bucs today, the Raiders show they can win on the road against all odds. Now, next week they have to find a way to win at home against all odds. This is a big stage for this young Raiders' squad. A national audience will be watching them. They have to prove they are for real and beat the Broncos to keep pace in this tight AFC West race. But, what a hard-fought win today. 5-0 on the road, 6-2 overall, it's just too surreal. They need a couple more because the magic number to get into the playoffs is 10 wins. The Raiders should get out of Florida and start game planning against the Broncos. Let's get that win on national TV where the millions and millions will be watching and they will know the Silver and Black are back! I'll see you guys next week for that game at a later start time on Sunday.
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