For the last time, the Oakland Raiders played a home game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Sunday as they hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was an emotional day for everyone involved, and while the Raiders jumped out to an early lead, they were not able to hold onto it, suffering a heartbreaking 20-16 loss.
The Raiders got the ball to start the game and came out firing, going seven plays for 75 yards on their opening drive. Derek Carr connected with Tyrell Williams for the touchdown from 40 yards out to give Oakland an early 7-0 lead.
Jacksonville responded with a solid drive of its own thanks to a 55-yard pass from Gardner Minshew to Keelan Cole. The drive stalled in the red zone though, forcing the Jaguars to kick a field goal.
Oakland responded with a field goal of its own, and then kicked two more in the second quarter to take a 16-3 lead into the halftime locker room. The defense was the catalyst of that half, holding the Jaguars to 75 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Darren Waller led the Raiders on the other side of the ball with 106 first-half receiving yards.
It was easy to see how much the Raiders missed right tackle Trent Brown as Carr was consistently pressured all day, which kept the game from being a blowout.
On Oakland’s first drive of the second half, they got the ball to around midfield before being faced with a fourth-and-one. Jon Gruden surprisingly decided not to go for it, trusting his defense by sending A.J. Cole out for a punt.
A couple of key penalties, including one where the Raiders had 13 men on the field, kept the ensuing Jaguars’ drive alive. They worked it in to field goal range, but Dion Jordan came up with a big sack on third down to prevent a touchdown. Jacksonville got three points out of it though to cut Oakland’s lead to 16-6.
After the Jaguars continued to put pressure on Carr, forcing another punt, they got the ball back early in the fourth quarter looking to make it a one-score game. They did exactly that with a touchdown from Gardner Minshew to Chris Conley, and suddenly the Raiders’ lead was just 16-13 with around five minutes to play.
The Raiders went to Josh Jacobs to salt the game away, and the star running back did what he does best, wearing down the Jaguars defense and picking up a few key first downs. Carr also picked up a first down with his legs, but Daniel Carlson missed a field goal attempt to give the Jaguars one last drive.
They made the most of it, going seven plays and 65 yards to score the game-winning touchdown with Minshew connecting with Conley once again to give the Jaguars they first lead of the game at 20-16.
The Raiders had 33 seconds to work with and got the ball past midfield, giving them a couple attempts at a Haily Mary. They were not able to convert though, as the Raiders were defeated in stunning fashion to fall to 6-8 on the year.
