Jacksonville is often where teams go to bounce back from a funk. The Raiders sure could’ve used a bounce-back. But instead, they stayed in the funk they had been in after a 24-0 loss in New Orleans.
It appeared early on that the Raiders were putting New Orleans behind them. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. But the wheels started to fall off late in the second quarter and that car went off a cliff in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Raiders’ lead was no more. The Jaguars scored on their third straight drive to take a 24-20 lead and never gave it back. The high-powered Raiders offense from the first half was a distant memory and they were shut out in the second half to lose 27-20.
Ballers
WR Davante Adams
Adams scored the Raiders first two touchdowns. The first one, he played the DB perfectly up the left sideline. Carr’s pass was on target, but wasn’t out in front of Adams, so the savvy All-Pro receiver knew he needed to make sure he didn’t reach for the pass until it was right on him or risk the DB turning to bat it down. The DB never saw it coming and the result was a 25-yard touchdown.
On the second touchdown, Adams went on a corner route from left to right, got the safety turned around and broke wide open for a 38-yard touchdown.
Adams was a big part of the offense that put the Raiders in scoring position for three of their four scores as well. He had nine catches on nine targets for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
Though Adams was frustrated with how the game played out in the second half, he did still get eight targets. Just one of those passes could be considered a drop. Another would have taken a miraculous play by Adams to keep his feet inbounds. So, while his work was a big reason the Raiders’ offense was clicking the first half, his lack of catches in the second half was not his fault.
DE Maxx Crosby
Crosby was a big reason for the Jaguars’ inability to score early in the game. He recovered a fumble to end their first drive. Then he ended the second drive by making a tackle for loss on third and one.
Late in the game, with the Raiders still within four points, Crosby was still full board. He had a run stuff and then came flying in on third and seven and had to be held to keep from blowing up the play. The Raiders declined the penalty because it was stopped short of the sticks, but the six-yard gain on the play made for a 48-yard field goal and a seven-point lead.
He finished with five tackles, a tackle for loss, a QB hit, and a fumble recovery.