Raiders Have a Winning Streak After 21-17 Victory
LAS VEGAS, Nev. --The Las Vegas Raiders finally have their first winning streak of the season, as the defense saved them for the second straight week at the end of the game.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols sacked quarterback Mac Jones for a safety with 1:47 remaining. The Silver and Black held on for a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Punter Bryce Baringer pooched the ensuing free kick in hopes the Patriots might recover and pull off a miracle, but Hunter Renfrow of the Raiders smartly called for a fair catch. Quarterback Brian Hoyer, who played against his former team, took a knee three times to run out the clock.
“Credit the fight of our team,” Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels said. “That certainly wasn’t a Picasso out there.”
The Raiders (3-3) beat the Green Bay Packers, 17-13, last Monday night when cornerback Amik Robertson intercepted a pass in the end zone with 44 seconds left to seal the victory and end a three-game match losing streak for Las Vegas.
Legendary Coach Belichick of the Patriots, who has won a record six Super Bowls, coached his 456 NFL game but was denied his 300th victory.
"We couldn’t quite make enough plays here tonight,” Belichick said. “We had our opportunities and just need to do a better job here and really in just about every area. Any one of the number of things could have made a difference. We just need to coach it better, play it better, execute it a little bit better. That’s really the story again.”
Again, it wasn’t pretty, but the Raiders will take it, as they scored more than 20 points in a game for the first time this season.
Daniel Carlson kicked field goals of 25, 37, 30, and 24 yards, while quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw a 12-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers with 12:22 left in the first half to give the Raiders a 10-0 lead and the Silver and Black never trailed.
“As a guy who was with those guys, I know there is a lot of talent on that team,” Meyers said. “Those guys can play football. They’ve had a bunch of change on the team over the last couple of years, so they’re working on some things.”
However, the Raiders had trouble in the red zone, scoring only the one touchdown and those four field goals when getting close six times, and Garoppolo had a pass deflected off receiver Davante Adams on a hit by safety Jabril Peppers and linebacker Jahlani Tabai intercepted for the Patriots in the first quarter.
The Patriots pulled to within 19-17 on running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s one-yard touchdown run at 3:33 left in the game, and New England forced the Raiders punt with 2:31 remaining, but AJ Cole boomed a 46-yard punt with no return to the New England.
And the defense did the rest.
Garoppolo completed 14-of-22 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, his NFL-leading eighth interception of the season, before sustaining a back injury in the first half and did not return. He was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. He missed a game earlier this season because of a concussion.
“I think there are a lot of balls up in the air right now relative to Jimmy,” McDaniels said. “We’ll have a little patience and see what the report is going to be. I’m hoping for the best, obviously. We’ll find out more and try to make the best decision for the team.”
The 38-year-old Hoyer, playing for his eighth NFL, completed 6-of-10 passes for 102 yards without a touchdown, an interception, or a sack in the second half while playing for only the second time in a 2023 regular-season game.
“It’s my 15th year,” Hoyer said. “I’ve pretty much seen all the situations, and really what it comes down to is playing football regardless of the situation.”
Rookie tight Michael Mayer led the Raiders with five receptions for 75 yards, a 15.0 average, while Meyers caught five balls for 61 yards and the score, and wide receiver Tre Tucker made two catches for 57, including a 48-yarder from Hoyer to set up a field goal that made it 16-10.
All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams was held to two catches for 29 yards.
Running back Josh Jacobs, the defending NFL rushing champion, continued to show his coming out of his slow start by running for a season-high 77 on 25 carries and made two receptions for 16 yards.
Crosby tied for the Raiders’ lead with seven tackles, had one pass defended, one quarterback, and half a sack. At the same time, linebacker Robert Spillane made seven stops, and linebacker Divine Deablo was another player with seven tackles.
Cornerback Tyler Hall made six tackles, Nicols had four stops, including the half sack, and last week’s hero Robertson also had four, including a sack.
Jones completed 24-of-33 passes for 200 yards and no touchdown, and an interception made safety Tre’von Moehrig on the Raiders’ 12-yard-yard line in the second quarter and returned in 22 yards to set up a drive that led to Carlson’s field goal with 10 seconds left in the half.
That made the Raiders the last team in the NFL to score in the final two minutes of the first half this season.
Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne led the Patriots with ten receptions for 89. At the same time, Stevenson had five catches for 24 yards and rushed for 46 yards on ten carries, including the touchdown, and running back Ezekiel Elliott ran for 34 yards on seven carries and a score.
The Raiders gained 348 total yards and held the Patriots to 259, which allowed them to keep the ball 32 minutes and 12 seconds to New England’s 27:48.
The Raiders will try to stretch their winning streak when they play their next two games on the road, where they are 1-2 this season, beating the Denver Broncos in their opener before being blown out by the Buffalo Bills and losing to the Los Angeles Chargers.
First, the Silver and Black will take on the Chicago Bears next Sunday at Soldier Field in Chicago before playing another Monday Night Football Game against the Detroit Lions on Oct. 30 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Then, the Raiders will return to Allegiant Field for two games, playing the New York Giants on Sunday, November 5, and the New York Jets on Sunday evening, November 12, to get through 10 games of the 17-game NFL season.
The Silver and Black will head on the road to take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.
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