Oakland Raiders: 3 Takeaways from win vs. Tennessee Titans

It was a high-scoring, tough battle in the Music City against the Tennessee Titans. Everybody knew that it would be a fun match-up, let’s look at some takeaways from the Oakland Raiders’ win.

From the very first possession, it was apparent that this would be a fun one to watch. This game between the Oakland Raiders and the Tennessee Titans had a bit of everything. There were plenty of long passes, a couple of sacks, even a muffed punt.

Throughout the first half, each team scored a touchdown. Amari Cooper would catch the touchdown for the Raiders. Marcus Mariota would use his legs for a short 10-yard run of his own for six points.

After halftime, the ball game was all Raiders as they moved the ball on the ground, taking time off the clock as slow as possible. Despite a tough battle from the Titans, the Silver and Black squeezed out a close one for the first win of the season.

Let’s look at three takeaways from the Raiders’ 26-16 win over the Titans on Sunday.

Giorgio Tavecchio shows he was right choice

When the team was first worried about long time kicker Sebastian Janikowski’s back injury, the initially worked out three different kickers that had just been cut from their previous teams. Throughout all of last week, the team was clearly getting more worried as the week went on. On Saturday, the made it official when they placed Janikowski on Injured Reserve, meaning that Giorgio Tavecchio will be the kicker for at least eight weeks.

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In the game, Tavecchio made any worries that the Raiders had of him go away. He would make two 52-yard field goals, a 43-yarder, along with every extra point. For the foreseeable future, Tavecchio will be the kicker, possibly even after Janikowski is healthy enough to come back.

Jared Cook proves a great addition

After spending last season with the Green Bay Packers, and an elite quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. He made the move the East Bay to play for the Oakland Raiders this offseason.

Cook went from one elite quarterback to one of the future elite quarterbacks in the league in Derek Carr. With a brand-new offensive coordinator in Todd Downing, Cook was expected to be a big part of the passing attack this season.

Through one game, Cook was that and more. He would finish the game with five catches for 56 yards. This offense just got that much more explosive with the addition of Cook.

Derek Carr is back and better than ever

Leading the team to its first win of the season, Carr showed the NFL that he will be searching for his first NFL MVP award. During the game, he made beautiful throw after beautiful throw. Many to Amari Cooper, who proceeded to drop at least four passes in the endzone. If Carr gets back to how he was playing last season before he got hurt, he very well could be hoisting the trophy after the season.

Next: Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans: Highlights, recap, score

He finished the game with two touchdowns, with 262 yards to go along with it. Just after one game, the Raiders appear to be the frontrunners to win the AFC West along with the Kansas City Chiefs. What were you excited to see during Week 1? Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below!