Welcome in to the full recap of the of the Raiders' Week 12 divisional matchup vs. the Broncos. The Raiders jump to a 21-0 start and hold on to win the game 14-21, keeping their playoff and division title hopes alive after the Chiefs lost to the Bills earlier today.
First off, belated Happy Thanksgiving Raider Nation. I hoped all of you enjoyed this Thanksgiving weekend, enjoyed time with your family and enjoyed some good food and leftovers. Now, let's get back to this game. A win is a win no matter what. But, this is a type of win that's overshadowed with some skepticism. The Broncos elected to go with Paxton Lynch this game and the Raiders were expected to come out and dominate against a team whose quarterback was making his first start. Then Lynch goes down, Trevor Siemian takes over. The defense went back to its old ways. But like I said, the 21-0 start that Carr and the offense generated was huge down the stretch, especially since they were missing Cooper and Crabtree. They ran the ball down the Broncos' throats with Beast Mode and Carr made some critical passes to Holton and Patterson to put Denver on ice.
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Marshawn Lynch, 26 carries, 67 yards, 1 TD, 3 receptions 44 yards. This was another strong game by Beast Mode, just keep feeding him the ball. He got off to a slow start because the Broncos' defense knew that run plays were going to him. But, he picked it up in the 2nd quarter. Same with the run blocking from the O-line. He was also effective as a pass catcher with a key catch and run in the 4th quarter, which proved to be in vain after Tavecchio missed a field goal. As I said, last season, the Raiders beat the Broncos last season because they rammed it down the Broncos' throats. Today, they did it again and it started with Beast Mode.
Derek Carr, 18 of 24 passes, 253 yards, 2 TDs. The first drive was not a good start from Carr as he overthrew his first two passes. He then committed a fumble before the end of the 1st quarter. But, today we saw the Derek Carr of old as the game progressed. He was rolling out of the pocket and taking shots deep. Not to mention, he put up the aforementioned stats after Crabtree got ejected in the 1st quarter and Cooper had to be taken out for possible concussion symptoms in the 2nd quarter.
Cordarrelle Patterson, 3 receptions, 72 yards. A big chunk of that yardage came off his big catch and run to seal the deal against Denver. Like I said, if that 3rd down pass didn't work, we'd have a lot of hands rolling, but Patterson had good concentration on Carr's pass to make that grab.
Johnny Holton, 2 receptions, 53 yards. Holton is developing into a nice deep threat. He burned the Broncos' secondary again to set up Carr's pass TD to Jalen Richard.
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Defense. Shut out by the defense in the first half was fools' gold today. The party was over when Trevor Siemian came in relief for Paxton Lynch. Even though, the D-line generated 5 sacks and they forced an INT, most of those came against Paxton Lynch. He's not used to the NFL speed, so we expected them to dominate. The problems with this unit late in this game was still apparent going up against Siemian who's far more familiar with the terminology of the Broncos' offense.
Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree's status. Derek Carr is going to need one of them for next week. As mentioned, Coop took a big shot from Darian Stewart. His status is up in the air. And of course, Crabtree fighting Talib ignited a huge brawl early on in this game. And you know, when it comes to Raider players, the NFL pulls no punches in implementing the harshest penalty possible on players donning the Silver and Black. Most likely, we're expecting Crabtree to be suspended for next week's game against the Giants. Cooper is a 50-50 shot. Carr is going to need one of them back.
MVP
Keep feeding this guy the damn ball! Not much more to be said. Beast Mode's starting to come on down the stretch, which bodes well for the Raiders in running the table.
Conclusion
It's never easy with this current Raiders team. But, they got the W. They're going to need all the wins they can get down the stretch here. They took advantage of Denver's quarterback carousel today. Next week, they're going up against the Giants who are struggling just as much as the Raiders are. With the injuries and the struggles of Eli Manning, this team should take advantage of that. Then again, considering this game and how the Raiders almost blew a 21-0 lead, expect no easy gimmies. Outside of the Chargers, the Giants have been successful against AFC West teams this year. Raiders need to be alert and continue to play with desperation. I'll see you guys next week for that game.
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