The Oakland Raiders kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Oakland went into half time with a 14-7 lead, and they received the ball first in the second half. To open the second half, the Raiders went on an impressive 13 play 75-yard drive, which ate up 8 minutes and 49 seconds. The drive was capped off by a DeAndre Washington 5-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders up 21-7.
The Chargers scored on their next possession to make 21-14, and after that, the Raiders went on a 12 play drive that ate up 7 minutes and 36 seconds capped off by a Daniel Carlson field goal to make 24-14. The game was pretty much in hand after that. Here are some takeaways from the Raiders victory.
DeAndre Washington Ran Hard
With Josh Jacobs out, the Raiders need DeAndre Washington to step up in this game. Washington had 85 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown. Oakland struggled to run the ball in the first half but made consistent effort to run the ball in the second half, and Washingon led the charge. Washington did not have any long runs but ran hard in between the tackles and ran for several key first downs.
Renfrow Returned
Slot receiver Hunter Renfrow returned from injury and made a significant impact in the game. On the Raiders first touchdown Renfrow caught slant route and took in for a 56-yard touchdown. Renfrow also made several third-down conversions as well. He finished the game with seven receptions for 107 yards and one touchdown. Derek Carr was happy to have Renfrow back.
Carr Played Well
Derek Carr passed 291 yards on 26 out 30 passing. He also threw one touchdown pass. Carr looked good in the pocket, made several good reads, and engineered a couple of long scoring drives. More importantly, Carr did not turn the ball over. Also, Carr even ran in a touchdown right before half time to give the Raiders 14-7 lead going into half time.
Defense Played Well
The Raiders defense held Chargers running back Melvin Gordon to 15 yards on nine carries. Los Angeles, as a team, only had 19 rushing yards total for the game. The Raiders front seven did a great job stopping run led by Will Compton’s 12 tackles.
Oakland’s secondary pretty well dispute losing cornerback’s LaMarcus Joyner and Trayvon Mullen to injuries. Rivers did pass for 279 yards, but there were no big plays down the field. Cornerback Nevin Lawson played fantastic with four pass breakups in the game.
The Raiders head to Denver to take on the Broncos Sunday with slim playoff hopes, a lot of things will have to happen for the Raiders to get in. So we will see how it plays out Sunday.
