The Oakland Raiders hosted the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon needing a win to stay atop the AFC and AFC West standings as both the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos won earlier in the day.
Despite getting off to another slow start, the Raiders were able to earn another comeback victory, defeating the Bills 38-24 for their sixth straight victory to move to 10-2 on the season.
Buffalo got on the board first as quarterback Tyrod Taylor led a 10-play, 72-yard drive that stalled in the red zone. Dan Carpenter connected on a 27-yard field goal to put his team ahead 3-0 though.
Raiders kick Sebastian Janikowski, who was the Raiders only offense in the first half, made a 47-yard field goal on the ensuing Raiders possession to tie the game at three.
That tie didn’t last lost though as Taylor led another successful drive on the Bills next possession as an 11-play. 80-yard drive was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Mike Gillislee early in the second quarter to give Buffalo a 10-3 lead.
Janikowski made two more field goal attempts in the first half, from 41 and 47 yards to cut the deficit to 10-9 at halftime.
Bills running back LeSean McCoy exploded for a 54-yard run to begin the second half. On the next play Taylor scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17-9.
Gillislee extended that lead with a 2-yard touchdown run on the Bills next drive and suddenly the Raiders trailed 24-9 midway through the third quarter.
Derek Carr, needing some more late-game magic, led the Raiders to a score on the ensuing drive as he found Michael Crabtree for a 3-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-16.
It was all Raiders from there as they scored a touchdown on their next drive as Latavius Murray found pay dirt from a yard out to cut the deficit to one early in the fourth quarter.
Carr then found receiver Amari Cooper from 39 yards out for a touchdown on their next drive, giving Oakland its first lead of the game at 30-24.
With just under 11 minutes remaining in the game, Raiders All-Pro defensive end/linebacker Khalil Mack pressed Taylor into making a bad throw, and safety Nate Allen was there to intercept the pass setting his offense up with good field position.
Murray scored his second touchdown of the game four plays later, and after a successful two-point conversion the Raiders took a commanding 38-24 lead.
The Bills were then driving to potentially cut the deficit in half, but Mack made another great defensive play as he stripped Taylor on a sack and recovered the fumble to seal the victory.
The Raiders were forced to punt on their ensuing drive with just over two minutes left in the game, but the Bills committed a roughing the punter penalty, giving the Raiders a first down and ending the game.
Carr had 260 yards passing and two touchdowns without any turnovers, while Murray led the Raiders on the ground with 82 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
The Raiders have a short week ahead of them as they have a division showdown with the Chiefs Thursday night in Kansas City.
