The Oakland Raiders escaped with another late victory Sunday afternoon as the San Diego Chargers had a mishap on a late potential game-tying field goal attempt, giving the Raiders a 34-31 win.
Once again first-year head coach Jack Del Rio made some questionable decisions that worked out in the Raiders favor, including going on it on fourth-and-three from the Chargers 21-yard line with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter and the Raiders trailing 24-19.
Quarterback Derek Carr threw a ball up for his favorite target Michael Crabtree, and Crabtree came down with it for a touchdown, giving the Raiders a lead that they never surrendered.
The win moved the Raiders to 4-1, which is tied with the Denver Broncos for the AFC West lead. After the game talked about his coach’s belief in him, and how they are beginning to get on the same page, via Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle:
“I love that he believes in us,” Carr said. “I’m starting to think like him. We’re getting on the same page. Which is cool.”
The Raiders four wins have come by a combined 12 points, as the Raiders have trailed in the second half in three of the four wins. Carr joked about hopefully getting to enjoy a fourth quarter in a future game:
“It would be nice to enjoy a fourth quarter at some point,” said quarterback Derek Carr, whose team held off the Chargers for its fourth nail-biter victory in five games. “It would be nice if we didn’t have all the stress and drama at the end. But it’s never going to be easy.”
Carr has completed 66.8 percent of his passes through the first five games while throwing 11 touchdowns and two interceptions while leading one of the top scoring offenses in the league. The Raiders are averaging 28.4 points per game, which ranks fifth and 391.6 yards per game which ranks third in the NFL.
The Raiders face another division opponent next week when the host the 2-2 Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Kansas City defeated Oakland in both of their matchups last season, but that was a much different Raiders team with a different coaching staff.
