Oakland Raiders Film Room: Week 16 (Bills)

Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (29) is defended by Buffalo Bills safety Aaron Williams (23) at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Week 16’s matchup between the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills saw the Raiders 3rd consecutive win at home. While not a perfect game by any means, Oakland held their own against a Bills team looking to get into the playoffs. Most impressive was Oakland’s ability to put up 26 points on the #1 ranked team in defensive DVOA going into Week 16. If there was any lingering concern that Oakland was a team better than it’s record might indicate it should have been allieviated.

What stood out most in this game was the importance of big plays on both sides of the ball. All of Buffalo’s touchdowns came on passes of 29 yards or more. Both of Oakland’s touchdowns came after 50 yard passing plays took them a large chunk of the field closer to the end zone. It was the same for the run game. Oakland had a lot of one or two yard gains or losses with a few 15+ yard runs peppered in. Big plays were what made the game, so big plays are what we’ll breakdown this week.

Let’s get to the film!