No Surrender Raiders Down Broncos 17-13
Las Vegas, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders found a way to win at home, running the football, and kept their playoff hopes alive.
Josh Jacobs rushed for 129 yards, and Peyton Barber ran five yards for what proved to be the winning touchdown with 10:22 left in a 17-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Raiders (8-7) overcame three turnovers and improved to only 3-4 at home this season and 5-11 at Allegiant Stadium since moving from Oakland to Las Vegas last year, beating the Broncos (7-8) for the second time this season. The fourth straight time in the previous two, increasing their lead in the series that dates to 1960 to 69-64-2.
“Our defense, I really haven’t come up with a word yet to describe it,” said Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, who is 5-5 since taking over when Coach Jon Gruden resigned. “First and foremost, I’d say it was outstanding, it was phenomenal, it was awesome. It was relentless competitive effort down-in and down-in and down-in and down-in.
“ … The one injury we have is Derek Carr. He got hit went in the tent and came back out. We'll see how he is. ... Right now, it seems like he’s fine.”
Jacobs, who rushed for more than 100 yards seven times in his first two pro seasons, went over the century mark for the first time this season after gaining only 25 yards in the first half but piling up 104 in the last two quarters.
However, the Raiders didn't wrap things up until quarterback Derek Carr fooled the Denver defense with a play-fake before passing to tight end Foster Moreau for 28 yards to the Broncos' 36-yard line on the first play after the two-minute warning.
Carr, who completed 20-of-25 passes for 201 yards with an interception and a lost fumble, then took a knee on three straight plays to run out the clock and give the Raiders their second straight victory after losing five of the seven games since being 5-2.
The Raiders took a 7-0 lead with 11:01 left in the second quarter when Carr hit Hunter Renfrow with a 10-yard touchdown pass, and the Silver and Black had a 7-3 lead late in the half when they gave it away.
Jacobs fumbled after taking a short flip from Carr and nose tackle Mike Purcell at the Las Vegas 41, and four plays later, Brandon McManus kicked his second field goal of the game from 55 yards to make it 7-6 with 32 seconds left in the half.
Carr threw a screen pass toward Jacobs on the first play after the kickoff, but linebacker Bradley Chubb tipped the ball and then intercepted it before running 21 yards to the one-yard-line.
“Right before we went on the field my coach alerted us to the screen,” Chubb told reporters after the game. “So, as I was coming around I felt the running back behind me and saw (Carr) try to get it over my head. So I just jumped and tried to tip it and mess up the play but it ended up coming back to me. It was cool.”
Javonte Williams ran one yard to a touchdown on the next play to give the Broncos a 13-7 lead with 15 seconds left in the first half.
“It’s football, they’re going to make plays too,” Carr said about what happened at the end of the first half. “We don’t want to help them in that. … The whole game, we were getting the [looks that we liked] in the pass game and the run game. We knew we were going to come out strong [in the second half].
“ … We only care about wins.”
However, the Raiders got the second-half kickoff and took it 75 yards on nine plays to the go-ahead score, with Jacobs carrying the ball 57 yards on seven carries before Barber replaced him and ran for the touchdown.
The only pass on the drive was Carr's 13-yarder to wide receiver DeSean Jackson that moved the ball into Denver territory.
The Raiders seemed to be driving for another score when Carr was sacked by defensive end Shelby Harris and fumbled, with defensive end Dre'Mont Jones recovering for Denver and the Broncos 42-yard line with 3:19 left in the game.
Quarterback Drew Lock, playing in place of injured Teddy Bridgewater (concussion), hit two passes for 27 yards to move Denver into scoring position. Still, McManus missed a 55-yard field goal attempt wide to the left with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
Lock completed 15-of-22 passes for 153 yards in the game without a touchdown or interception.
“We knew this was a win-or-go-home type of situation, and we didn’t do enough to come out with a W,” Harris said. “Their backs did a good job of jump-cutting. We got a little overanxious making a play and they were jump-cutting and it was open lane. Kudos to them.”
Carr, who sustained a left elbow injury on the sack-fumble play, returned to the game with a rubber sleeve on the arm after McManus' miss and led the Raiders to a 41-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson, his second of the game, to give the Silver and Black some breathing room at 17-13 with 7:35 left.
Carlson has made his last 33 field goal attempts at home.
Wide receiver Zay Jones led the Raiders with six catches for 50 yards, Moreau had four for 67, Jackson made four for 44, and Renfrow added three for 40, including the touchdown.
Star tight end Darren Waller missed his fourth straight game for the Raiders because of knee and back injuries, but Pro Bowl linebacker Denzel Perryman (ankle), the team's leading tackler, was back after missing two games and made four stops.
Cornerback Desmond Trufant led the Raiders with seven tackles, defensive end Darius Philon added four, while defensive end Maxx Crosby and cornerback Keisan Nixon made three.
The Raiders play their final road game of 2021 next Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis before returning home the following Sunday to finish the regular season, hopefully still in the playoff hunt for a game against the AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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