After their worst game of the season in Week 6 when they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-10 at home, the Oakland Raiders looked to bounce back Sunday when they travel to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a Week 7 AFC matchup.
They did exactly that as they controlled both sides of the ball against Jacksonville, leading to a 33-16 victory.
In their second drive of the game quarterback Derek Carr led the Raiders on a 9-play, 63-yard drive, but it stalled at the 7-yard line and the Raiders were forced to kick a field goal to go up 3-0.
Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles looked as if he was going to get his team on the board on the ensuing drive, but on third-and-7 from the Raiders’ 15-yard line Bortles threw a pass to the end zone intended for Marqise Lee, but it was intercepted by cornerback David Amerson.
The Raiders then came up with another turnover on their punt, as return man Rashad Greene muffed the punt and the Raiders recovered it, setting Carr up with excellent field position. The Raiders could not take advantage though as 3-and-out led to another field goal by Sebastian Janikowski.
After the Jaguars responded with a field goal of their own to cut the deficit in half, the Raiders finally found the end zone as running back Latavius Murray scored from two yards out to cap off an 11-play 75-yard drive and the Raiders led 13-3.
Oakland’s defense again held Jacksonville to a field goal on the next drive, and the offense again responded with a touchdown as Carr connected with Michael Crabtree just before halftime to give the Raiders a 20-6 halftime lead.
The Jaguars kicked their third field goal of the game on their first drive of the second half cutting their deficit to 20-9. The Raiders added two more field goals though to take a commanding 26-9 lead in the fourth quarter.
Bortles found the end zone for the first time with just over seven minutes remaining as he found Julius Thomas from four yards out to bring his team within two scores at 26-16, but Murray scored his second touchdown of the game after Raiders punter Marquette King ran for 27 yards after fumbling the snap on fourth-and-24.
The touchdown by Murray sealed the 33-16 victory, and the Raiders moved to 5-2 on the season. The Raiders will travel back to Florida next Sunday as they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.