Raiders Have Had OT Success in Recent Years
When Davante Adams made a 35-yard catch of a pass from Derek Carr for a touchdown in overtime to beat the Denver Broncos last Sunday, it was only the latest example of the success the Las Vegas Raiders have had in overtime games over the last several seasons.
This one was even more impressive than some of the rest because it took only three plays from scrimmage during the extra period to give the Silver and Black a 22-16 victory against their AFC West rival in Denver.
Although the Raiders lost their only other overtime game this season, 29-23, to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, they were 4-0 in games that went to extra time last season and are 8-2 in such games dating to 2014 when Carr joined the team.
“Yeah, you know in college we use to say, ‘Let’s go play for four quarters or as long as it takes to win,’ and that’s just been something I just bought into,” Carr said during the overtime run last season. “From what Pat Hill and the other coaches were saying to us at Fresno State. Keep the process, keep going, and we're trying to do everything it takes to play as long as it takes to win the football game.
“So far, we’ve been able to win three of them and that’s a good start. It’s something as a little kid, you know my brother would always joke with me, it’s my favorite moment. I was a little kid on our hoop that my dad cemented at our house on the driveway. I would always count down 3…2…1 for hours. I wanted the last shot. I wanted the last throw.”
In addition to his overtime record, Carr’s winning touchdown pass to Adams gave the quarterback 32 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime during his NFL career.
The most important of those four victories in overtime last season came in the final game when Carr drove the Raiders to a 47-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson with no time left to give the Raiders a 35-32 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to earn a spot in the playoffs with four straight wins and a 10-7 record.
Carr has had plenty of help, of course, much of it from Carlson.
After Dustin Hopkins of the Chargers kicked a 41-yard field goal with 4:30 left to tie the score, 32-32, Carr moved the Raiders 46 yards into range for the winning kick by Carlson, who had connected from 40 yards earlier in overtime and kicked five field goals in the game.
“We have been in this situation before, right,” Raiders interim Coach Rich Bisaccia said. “Derek has been in two-minute situations before. He has been in four-minute situations before. Our defense has had to come up with stops toward the end of the game. We just can’t say enough about how this team prepares and going into the game playing like that. I just know that they believe in each other when they go out there. They don’t blink.”
The overtime magic for the Raiders last season started in Week 1, when Carlson kicked a 55-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation to tie the Baltimore Ravens, 27-27, at Allegiant Stadium before Carr hit the wide receiver, Zay Jones, with a 31-yard touchdown pass and a 33-27 victory with 3:38 remaining in the extra period.
Two weeks later at Allegiant Stadium, Carlson kicked two field goals in overtime once more, from 38 and 22 yards, the second with no time left to pull out a 38-21 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
In Week 12 on Thanksgiving, Carlson again kicked five field goals, the last from 29 yards with 4:28 remaining in overtime to pull out a 36-33 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Carr, who passed for 373 yards in the game, moved the Raiders into scoring position with the help of a pass interference penalty against cornerback Anthony Brown on a pass intended for Jones.
“It kind of gave me goose bumps, I’m not going to lie,” Carr told reporters afterward. “When that kick went through, I had a lot of memories from when I was a kid.”
Of course, the most famous overtime game in Raiders history came on Christmas Eve in a 1977 AFC Divisional Playoff against the Baltimore Colts at Municipal Stadium in Baltimore, and it will be known forever as “The Ghost to the Post Game.”
Quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler sent tight end Dave “Ghost” Casper on a post route, but because of the coverage Casper altered his route, and Stabler read the move and hit him with a 42-yard pass that set up a 22-yard field goal by Errol Mann that tied the score, 31-31, in the final seconds to force overtime.
The game actually went two overtimes, with Stabler hitting Casper with a 10-yard touchdown pass 43 seconds into the second overtime to claim an epic 37-31 victory.
Hall of Famer Stabler was at his cool as a cucumber best with the game on the line, and Carr obviously has some Snake in his blood.
The Raiders' game on Sunday is in Seattle and kicks off at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST. You can see that game on CBS.
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