Raiders Dominate Eagles, 33-22
The start and finish weren’t all that impressive, but in between the Las Vegas Raiders took it to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Raiders fell behind on the first series of the game, but Derek Carr passed for 323 yards and two touchdowns as the defense shut down the Eagles much of the way in a 33-22 victory on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Silver and Black, who started the season 3-0, won for the second straight week under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia and the Raiders (5-2) go into their bye week with a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) in AFC West.
And the Raiders did it without star tight end Darren Waller, who sustained an ankle injury during practice on Friday, and running back Josh Jacobs left the game for good after suffering a chest injury while running eight yards for a touchdown that put Las Vegas ahead for good, 14-7, with 1:38 left in the first half.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff 77 yards on eight plays to quarterback Jalen Hurts’ 13-yard touchdown pass to running back Kenneth Gainwell with 11:07 left in the first quarter.
The Raiders scored on their opening possession for the first time in 11 games last week in a victory over Denver Broncos, and Carr moved them goalward on their first drive against the Eagles.
However, Carr was chased out of the pocket and threw his pass behind running back Jalen Richard, who tipped it right to cornerback Avonte Maddox for an interception at the Philadelphia five-yard-line.
That turned out to be no problem, however, as the Raiders scored on their next five possessions to build a 30-7 lead with 6:15 left in the third quarter.
Carr, who completed 31-of-34 passes in the game, started the Las Vegas scoring with an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Foster Moreau, who replaced Waller, and after Jacobs put the Raiders ahead for good, Daniel Carlson made it 17-7 with a 28-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the first half.
In that first half, Carr completed 21-of-23 passes for 215 yards, hitting on 16 in a row at one stage.
“We can all see the relationship that (Carr) and (offensive coordinator) Greg Olson have running this offense, it’s just really coming to fruition,” Bisaccia said.
“Off the field, Derek is the voice of the Raiders right now. The players always want to listen to him. ... He’s a tremendous leader both on and off the field."
Kenyan Drake, who replaced Jacobs and led Raiders with 69 yards rushing on 14 carries, ran four yards for a touchdown to make it 24-7 with 11:48 left in the third quarter, and after Carr’s one-yard scoring toss to wide receiver Bryan Edwards the lead was 30-7 when Carlson’s extra point try to hit the left upright and bounced away with 6:15 left in the quarter.
The Raiders finally were held scoreless on their next possession and the Eagles cut the margin to 30-14 when Hurts drove them 59 yards and eight plays to running back Boston Scott’s one-yard touchdown run with 11:38 remaining in the game.
Carlson kicked a 39-yard field goal with 7:17 left to increase the lead to 33-14, and the Eagles scored the final points on Hurts’ 17-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jalen Reagor and added a two-point conversion pass to tight end Dallas Goedert with 3:50 left in the game.
The Raiders recovered the Eagles’ second onside kick of the game it was essentially over.
Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow led the Raiders with seven receptions for 58 yards, while Moreau caught six passes for 60 yards, wide receiver Henry Ruggs had four for 24, Edwards made three catches for 43, Jacobs added three for 39 yards and wide receiver Zay Jones made only one catch, but it went for 43 yards.
“Our team responded to the challenge of not having Darren and certainly Foster stepped up and played really well,” Bisaccia said. “It was a complete team effort from start to finish.”
Middle linebacker Denzel Perryman didn’t have double digits in tackles for the first time this season, but still had a total of eight to tie for the team lead with cornerback Brandon Facyson, while linebacker Cory Littleton and safety Johnathan Abram both had six tackles in addition to each recovering a fumble.
Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue made two sacks and also had four tackles.
Hurts completed 18-of-34 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 61 yards, but much of that came as the Eagles desperately tried to rally in the second half. The Eagles had only 199 total yards through three quarters after getting 67 on that opening drive.
After the bye week, the Raiders hit the road to play the New York Giants on Sunday, Nov. 7, at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.Y.
Please make sure you tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
Want the latest breaking Las Vegas Raiders news delivered straight to you? CLICK THE FOLLOW button at the top of the page. Don't miss any of the latest up to the second updates for your Las Vegas Raiders when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter
