Sunday, the Raiders won their third straight to reach a 6-4 record on the season. None of them were convincing wins, not even this one against the 0-9 Bengals. But what matters is who came out with the W.
Pulling out one-score wins like this requires clutch performances. The Raiders got a few of those Sunday.
Top Baller: DE Maxx Crosby
Four. Sacks. Not much else needs to be said about that. It was the most sacks in a game by a Raider since Khalil Mack had five sacks in a game back in 2015.
Crosby’s first sack was a strip-sack that Maurice Hurst recovered for the Raiders. A fumble on the ensuing Raiders’ possession would lead to a touchdown drive by the Bengals to go up 7-0. The next Bengals possession ended with a three-and-out, Crosby pressured QB Ryan Finley to force an incompletion.
A late first-half drive, the Bengals were approaching scoring range, and Crosby was held. They would miss a 53-yard field goal attempt to go into the half with a 14-7 Raiders lead.
The Raiders were holding onto a 14-10 lead to begin the 4th quarter, and on the first play, Crosby drove right through left tackle John Jerry to sack Finley for a second time.
On the ensuing drive, the Raiders would extend the lead to 17-10. Plays of 17 and 16 yards would put the Bengals at the Oakland 44-yard-line. And here came Crosby again to put them back in their own territory with a 9-yard sack. Two plays later, he pressured Finley resulting in a stop for no gain. The drive ended two plays later with a turnover on downs.
With 1:54 remaining, the Bengals needed to drive 80 yards for a touchdown. On the first play, Crosby shot into the backfield to get his fourth sack. On 2nd and 19, Finley threw deep and was picked off to end the game.
Baller: CB Trayvon Mullen
That game-ending interception came from Raider’s second-round rookie Trayvon Mullen. It was the first of his career after two previous near misses.
That interception wasn’t the only play Mullen made in this one. He made a stop on a catch for one yard on third and four to force the Bengals to go for it on 4th and 3 to keep their first scoring drive alive. Unfortunately, they picked it up and a few plays later, Mullen was flagged for holding to put them in first and goal at the 3.
In the final seconds of the first half, the Bengals were in third and 6, approaching field goal range. Mullen made the stop on a 2-yard catch to force a 53-yard field goal that sailed wide left.
Mullen nearly had a pick-six in the third quarter, when he broke on a pass on the left sideline. He wasn’t able to intercept it, but he knocked it down to force a punt. Hell of a game by the rookie.
Ballers: Derek Carr, Tyrell Williams, Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller
It was one big play after another for Carr and his top receivers. Though it took a quarter to get things going. The ice breaker came with the first possession of second quarter with Carr finding Tyrell Williams for a 24-yard gain. A few plays later, on third and six, Carr would find Williams again, this time for a 20-yard pickup.
A few plays later, it was third down again, and this time it was Carr throwing deep for Hunter Renfrow, who tracked down the pass and made a diving catch for 27 yards. Two plays later, he hooked up with Waller for 14 yards to put the Raiders at the one-yard-line. Two plays later, the entire Bengals defense was fooled on the play-action to the right as Foster Moreau squirted out left for the score.
The next possession started with a 10-yard run by Josh Jacobs with a block from Waller. The next play Carr once again found Williams for big yards. The catch went for 21 yards with a roughing penalty tacked on.
Later in the drive, on third and two, Carr found Renfrow for ten yards to put the Raiders in first and goal from the 2. Three plays later, Carr found himself under pressure, so he scrambled around and eventually found the end zone, reaching over the goal line for the score.
An interception by Carr would lead to a Bengals field goal, making the score 14-10 to start the fourth quarter. That drive started with Carr finding Waller deep over the middle and Waller getting some YAC to pick up 32 yards.
The next play, Jacobs ripped off 21 yards thanks to a tremendous block from Hunter Renfrow in which he took out 6-5, 265-pound lineman Sam Hubbard to open a big hole. That put the Raiders in field goal range, and they extended the lead to 17-10.
Carr finished with just four incompletions on the day on 29 passes for 292 yards. Williams led the way with 82 yards on four catches, while Waller had 78 yards, and Renfrow had 66 yards, each leading the team with five catches.
Baller: CB Daryl Worley
It was not a good day to visit Worley Island. He had his anti-aerial attack defense system on lock. The Bengals’ first possession ended in four plays with Worley making a tackle for no gain on a catch in the left flat. He made another stop on a run for one yard on the next drive.
After the Raiders tied the game up at 7-7 in the second quarter, the Bengals response lasted four plays with Worley making the pass breakup on third down.
After giving up his one long catch of the day to begin the third quarter, he knocked down another pass. He also had a coverage incompletion and assisted in a run stop at the line later in the quarter. He wasn’t even tested in the fourth quarter.
Baller: RB Josh Jacobs
For the fourth time in the past six games, Jacobs went for over 100 yards on the ground. He ran for 112 yards on 24 carries (4.9 yards per carry). He burst out the gates with a 21-yard run on the first play of the game. Though his fumble on the Raiders’ second possession threatened to ruin his and the Raiders’ day, thankfully it did not.
With just over five minutes left in the second quarter and the score knotted at 7-7, Jacobs once again started a drive with a big run. He went for ten yards on the first play. With the run threat established, Carr went deep for a 21-yard completion to Tyrell Williams.
Then it was back to Jacobs for runs of 9 yards, 5 yards, and 5 yards to put the Raiders in the red zone. Four plays, and they were in the end zone.
The final scoring drive had Jacobs seeing a hole open up inside left tackle, and he shot through it, eluded tacklers, and made his way up the left sideline for 21 yards to the 13-yard-line. They added a field goal for the final score of 17-10.
Honorable Mention
DJ Swearinger — Led the team in tackles (7) despite just signing with the team 8 days before and playing 60% of the snaps.
Busters: Josh Mauro, Johnathan Hankins
When a team gives up 173 yards rushing and an average of 7.9 yards per carry, they aren’t doing a lot of things well. Some of the Raiders defensive linemen made up for their run defensive shortcomings in other areas. Mauro and Hankins did not.
Hankins was basically absent from the stats. He was credited with an assist, but even that was questionable as it looked like the tackle was already made even without him there.
Late in the first quarter, the Bengals drove into the red zone. In second and ten from the 18-yard-line, Hankins gave up a 10-yard run to put them in first and goal from the 8-yard-line. Two plays later, they lined up at the three-yard-line, Joe Mixon ran right and couldn’t find room.
Mauro was there, and it was his play to make, but Mixon slipped right through his fingers, reversed field to the left, and ran for the touchdown. For context, that was the first rushing touchdown by a Bengals running back ALL SEASON.
After the Raiders tied it up at 7-7 in the second quarter, Mauro had an end around go right past him for ten yards. Following Carr’s interception, Mauro gave up the edge to allow 15 yards on a pitch play. Next play, he gave up the edge again as Finley scrambled for six yards. That led to a Bengals field goal.
Late in the fourth quarter, again on the first play of the drive, Mauro bit hard on a play-action to the left as Finley ran the bootleg right to pick up 17 yards.
Buster: Richie Incognito
In third and six on the Raiders’ first possession, the Bengals ran a stunt, but Incognito didn’t switch his assignment, instead of blocking his man into Rodney Hudson as Geno Atkins ran free for the sack.
The Raiders needed to convert on third and long three times on their first touchdown drive. The first one was set up by Incognito, being beaten to give up a tackle for loss.
A couple Incognito penalties did the Raiders in late. On a play in the third quarter, he and Gabe Jackson were both flagged for holding. The Bengals just had to pick which they wanted to accept.
The Raiders were unable to overcome it. The next drive, the Raiders were in first, and goal from the one, and Incognito jumped early to back the Raiders up. They never got into the end zone, settling for a field goal instead.
Buster: LB Nicholas Morrow
The Bengals’ first scoring drive got off to a good start with Joe Mixon breaking off a 30-yard run. Once Mixon got through the line, it was Morrow’s play to make, and he got juked flatfooted and didn’t lay a finger on Mixon.
In the third quarter, he missed a tackle to give up an 18-yard end-around. It was the corners who stepped up to keep the drive from going any farther. And on the Bengals final drive, he gave up a 16-yard catch.
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