Post-Game Recap: Oakland Raiders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Post-Game recap of the Oakland Raiders thrilling Week 8 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Oakland Raiders won the coin toss and elected to defer, which was probably the only thing the Raiders won in the first half.
Sean Smith hurt his shoulder on one of the first plays of the game, and Perry Riley limped off the field not too long after that. In a matter of minutes, the Raiders were down two defensive starters.
That left David Amerson to exclusively cover Mike Evans, and it was a struggle early on. Evans converted on a pair of third downs, and finished the first half with 3 catches for 45 yards.
Oakland’s offense struggled to move the ball for nearly the entire first half, with penalties calling back several positive plays — including a Michael Crabtree touchdown that was negated due to offensive pass interference. Crabtree was also penalized for taunting early in the game, which resulted in a 3rd & long instead of 3rd & short.
The Raiders committed 10 penalties for 86 yards in the first half alone.
There was also a Derek Carr strip-sack, as Austin Howard was beat by Noah Spence off the edge. The Bucs recovered and scored on a 19-yard connection from Jameis Winston to Russell Shepard.
On the bright side, Khalil Mack drew a holding penalty and also recorded a sack for the third game in a row.
The highlight of Oakland’s first half was a 68-yard reception by Jamize Olawale. He got open on a wheel route and trucked all the way down to the Bucs 5-yard line. But as was the theme of the first half, two penalties backed Oakland up, and they had to settle for a field goal.
So despite the offense stalling and all the penalties, Oakland went into halftime trailing only 10-3.
The Raiders looked like a much different team in the second half, and were clearly trying to get Amari Cooper involved early. Carr connected with Coop for 28 yards, and then took a shot to Amari in the end zone that was flagged for pass interefence on Brent Grimes.
This led to not only the highlight of the game, but possibly the highlight of the season. From the 1-yard line, Carr ran a bootleg and found Donald Penn in the end zone, who had reported as an eligible receiver. It was a really awesome moment, so kuds to Jack Del Rio and Bill Musgrave for allowing Penn to have a moment against his former team.
Oakland’s opening drive of the second half went 8 plays for 75 yards, and lasted 4:36. And just like that, it was a tie game, 10-10.
The defense also came out firing in the second half — Mack picked up his second sack of the game, and two Winston incompletions led to a quick three and out.
Back on offense, the Raiders once again went to Cooper early as Carr hit him for a 16-yard completion. A few plays later, Carr dropped a dime in the end zone to Amari. 38-yard touchdown, and the Raiders were up 17-10. All 17 of Oakland’s points were unanswered.
After exchanging punts, Tampa found their way into the end zone after a 42-yard reception by Adam Humphries setup a 5-yard TD catch by Cameron Brate. But rookie kicker Roberto Aguayo missed the PAT, putting Tampa down 1.
Oakland punted on the next drive, and the Bucs marched right back down the field. 9 plays for 82 yards ended in a Jacquizz Rodgers 1-yard touchdown run. Mike Evans picked up a two-point conversion, and Tampa was up 24-17.
The Raiders answered with a scoring drive of their own. 75 yards on 9 plays took only 2:10 of clock and with 1:38 remaining in regulation, Carr hit Mychal Rivera for a 7-yard touchdown. Tie game.
Oakland had one last chance to win the game, after a quick Bucs three and out. A Carr scramble gave Janikowski a chance to win it from 50 yards out as time expired, but the kick went wide left.
Free football.
Overtime was stressful, with both teams failing to score on their opening drives. Janikowski missed from 52 on Oakland’s first overtime drive, wide right.
On the fifth possession of overtime, the Raiders took over with 3:21 to play. A few plays into the drive, Carr hit Seth Roberts in the middle of the field — Roberts broke two tackles and it was off to the races.
41-yard touchdown. Game over.
The Raiders moved to 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1977. 6-2 for the first time since 2001.
As a team, the Raiders committed 23 penalties for 200 yards — the first mark being an NFL record.
Derek Carr set a new franchise record with 513 passing yards. He completed 40 of 59 passes and had 4 TD’s and 0 INT’s. He became only the third player in NFL history to have such numbers.
Amari Cooper hauled in 12 passes for 173 yards and 1 touchdown — the first two marks were career highs.
Crabtree added 8 receptions for 108 yards. Seth Roberts had 3 catches for 69 yards, including the game-winner.
Oakland has a primetime matchup with the Denver Broncos next Sunday. 5:30pm PST, with first place in the AFC West on the line, if the Broncos can get by the Chargers.
Just Win, Baby.