Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Monday Night game vs. the Houston Texans in Mexico where the Raiders reclaim sole possession of first place in the AFC West beating the Texans 20-27.
Aside from the OT win against the Bucs Week 8, this is up there as one of the more polarizing victories we can take in. We take the win, but the penalties were excruciating. As I said, the Texans looked like the better team out there. Brock Osweiler, Lamar Miller, and the Texans, they were gashing the defense all game long. They were keeping Derek Carr in check defensively. But, the Raiders just made the bigger plays and yes, we got a little help. There'll be two controversies that'll be talked about in this game: DeAndre Hopkins ruled out of bounds when his foot wasn't on the white chalk and of course, the 4th and inches in the 4th quarter that was ruled short. But as Khalil Mack would say: "by any means" and the Raiders found another way to win when the odds were stacked against them.
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*I'm having a hard time to take away any positives here. Bear with me.*
Jamize Olawale, 3 receptions, 90 yards, 1 TD. The master of the wheel route! The expectations were high for Olawale when the Raiders cut Reece, but we knew Olawale was a stud. In the 4th quarter, Olawale executed the wheel route to perfection and he was off to the races for a 75 yard touchdown. Aside from Amari Cooper's go-ahead touchdown for the lead, Olwale's play was critical for the Raiders to get back into this game.
Jalen Richard, 3 receptions, 50 yards, 1 TD. I'm not going to include the rushing stats because the run game was non-existent all game long. But Richard stepped it up, scoring the first TD of the game. In the 4th quarter, he made a clutch catch from Derek Carr as the clock winded down to the 2 minute warning.
Defense. The defense had to be catching their breath from playing a long time in that Mexico City altitude. They couldn't get off the field on 3rd downs early on. Penalties also couldn't get them off the field. But I commend them for holding their ground all game long. Get all the oxygen you can get guys.
Derek Carr, 21 of 31 passes, 295 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT. His 1 INT to start the 3rd quarter was bad, but drops by the receivers really hurt his stats. Also the fact that the running game couldn't get going, Carr had to carry the team. He made big throws at the right time. Most of his throws aside from the INT were money. It's just that the receivers were dropping a lot passes.
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The running game. I gotta tip my hat off to the Texans' defense on this negative. Clowney, Mercilus, Wilfork (still a good run stuffer), they were pushing the O-line back and making the negative plays. The running game did show up at the end of the game, but they couldn't get anything going and the Texans' defense did a good job on that.
Drops. There were a lot of them. Seth Roberts had a couple drops. Michael Crabtree, definitely Michael Crabtree had a couple of uncharacteristic drops. Crabtree has been relatively quiet the last two games. Hopefully, he can shake this off and have a nice bounceback game against the Panthers next week.
Controversy. Yup, DeAndre Hopkins out of bounds and the 4th down play will overshadow this victory. Hopkins, no question was inbounds. But like I said on the 4th down, I think because the runner's knee was down before the ball extend the mark, I think that's the rationale why they ruled the turnover on downs. But, this will be talked about over this win.
MVP
Derek Carr 21 of 31 passes, 295 passing yards, 3 TDs
I don't think anybody deserved MVP after this game. But, I'd say Derek Carr deserved this. The stats could've been more if it weren't for the drops, but Carr did make the clutch throws for the explosive plays down the stretch.
Conclusion
Sloppy game. Controversial game. But at the end of the day, a win is a win. Kansas City lost last night and the Raiders are sole possession in 1st place. The cushion could be even greater when KC plays Denver next week. But overall, this was not a great game for the Raiders performance-wise, but hey, all that matters is that they put another W in the column. Interesting stat, the Raiders are now 4-0 in primetime games with Derek Carr under center. It goes to show the bright lights do not phase our quarterback no matter the scenario. The Panthers are in town next week. This could be another close game like this one, but their secondary does not match up well with the receivers. But, 4-game win streak, 1st place in the AFC West. It feels great Raider Nation. Since this game was in Mexico, I'll say Buenas Noches and Hasta Luego for next week's game vs. the Panthers.
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