Raiders pull out ugly overtime win over the Jaguars

The first half of this game the Raiders looked like the worst team in football. The Jaguars came into the game without two starting linebackers and a starting safety and yet the Raiders offense could not muster up anything on offense.

On the second play of the game, the Jaguars lost their star running back, Maurice Jones-Drew and then lost starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert in the second quarter. But none of that mattered. The Raiders were battling themselves in this game and they were killing themselves.

In the first half, Darren McFadden would run for just 10 yards on eight carries while Carson Palmer had just 106 yards on 9 of 17 passing. Most of those yards came on one 59 yard pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey. But that big play ended without a touchdown just like every other series for the Raiders.

The Raider failed in every facet of the game in the first half. The offense would stall and then the defense gave up a long touchdown drive. Then special teams chimed in when Philip Adams muffed a punt to set the Jaguars up in scoring position at the 16 yard line. They would score a touchdown in three plays to go up 14-3.

Then Palmer tried an improvised shovel pass that was intercepted and the Jaguars added a field goal. The Raiders were able to put together a decent drive at the end of the first half but again were unable to punch it into the endzone and headed into the locker room down 17-6.

The second half began the same way the first half ended. The Raiders went three and out, the Jaguars had a big punt return and were able to add to their lead with a field goal. But that's when things began to turn around.

Suddenly the Raiders were utilizing the no huddle offense and surprise, surprise, it worked. They drove right down the field and scored a touchdown on an 8-yard catch by Denarius Moore.

The defense also began playing inspired football. The Jaguars would not convert a single third down in the second half. They scored on a field goal off a fumble when Carson Palmer was strip sacked. But that was it.

The Raiders scored two touchdowns and added a field goal in the second half to tie it up at 23 apiece and take the game to overtime.

The final touchdown came down to a fourth down in which Aaron Ross was called for pass interference in the endzone on Darrius Heyward-Bey to give the Raider first and goal at the one yard line. Two plays later, Carson Palmer would push into the endzone on a quarterback sneak.

The overtime didn't last long. The Jaguars received the ball and started at their own 19 yard line. A tackle for no gain and a sack put them in third and 21 from their own eight yard line. Then Lamarr Houston knocked the ball loose on a run and Joselio Hanson recovered for the Raiders. They would get the ball at the 21 yard line. After Palmer moved the ball to center and kneeled it down, Janikowski came out and ended the game on a 40-yard field goal.

It was a gutty win over a desperate team and one the Raiders absolutely had to win. After the game, Carson Palmer had this to say.

"An ugly win's better than a pretty loss, I know that," said Palmer. "I've played this game long enough to know that just getting a win, finding any way to get a win... Just proud of the way we fought because it wasn't pretty. We did not play up to our standard and play the way we're coached at times. Guys hung in there, defense played great, got us the ball back and just good to get out of here with a win."

"We feel good about winning," said Dennis Allen. "That's what you're supposed to do in this league, you're supposed to win games. Am I pleased with the way we played, especially in the first half? Absolutely not. We've got to play better. Any time you get an opportunity to win in the National Football League you can't take that for granted so I'm happy that we won the football game."

This was the first win for the Raiders over the Jaguars since 1996, in their second year of existence. They had lost four straight since then.

The Raiders now sit at 2-4 on the season, just one game out of first place in the division with the reeling 1-5 Chiefs coming up next week.

Darrius Heyward-Bey goes from not catching a pass last week to the Raiders' leading receiver this week with four catches for 85 yards.

Darren McFadden again averaged under three yards per carry with 19 carries for 53 yards (2.8 ypc). Carson Palmer was just 9 for 17 for 103 yards and an interception at halftime. He finished going 26 of 46 for 298 yards and added two touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing).

BOX SCORE

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5-0) Oakland Raiders (2-4-0)

Jaguars

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT

B. Gabbert 8/12 110 1 0

C. Henne 9/20 71 0 0

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG

R. Jennings 21 44 1 8

M. Jones-Drew 2 6 0 3

C. Henne 3 4 0 3

Receiving REC YDS TD LG

C. Shorts 4 79 1 42T

R. Jennings 7 58 0 26

M. Lewis 3 20 0 9

M. Thomas 2 17 0 11

J. Blackmon 1 7 0 7

Fumbles FUM LOST REC YDS

C. Shorts 1 1 0 0

R. Allen 0 0 1 0

T. Knighton 0 0 0 0

C. Mosley 0 0 1 0

Kicking FG LG XP PTS

J. Scobee 3/3 50 2/2 11

Punting NO AVG I20 LG

B. Anger 9 39.2 2 55

Kickoff Returns NO AVG TD LG

M. Spurlock 2 20 0 22

M. Thomas 1 14 0 14

Punt Returns NO AVG TD LG

M. Spurlock 4 11 0 28

A. Ross 0 0 0 0

Defense T-A SCK INT FF

P. Posluszny 7-1 0.0 0 0

D. Cox 6-0 0.0 1 0

R. Allen 4-0 0.0 0 0

D. Landry 4-2 0.0 0 0

A. Lane 4-1 0.0 0 0

J. Mincey 4-0 1.0 0 0

T. Knighton 3-1 1.0 0 1

C. Mosley 3-0 0.0 0 0

C. Prosinski 3-0 0.0 0 0

J. Stanford 3-0 0.0 0 0

A. Ross 2-0 0.0 0 0

DA. Smith 1-1 0.0 0 0

T. Alualu 1-0 0.0 0 0

K. Bosworth 1-0 0.0 0 0

A. Branch 1-0 0.0 0 0

M. Harris 1-0 0.0 0 0

G. Selvie 0-1 0.0 0 0

Raiders

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT

C. Palmer 26/46 298 1 1

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG

D. McFadden 19 53 0 13

C. Palmer 6 14 1 9

O. Schmitt 1 2 0 2

Receiving REC YDS TD LG

D. Heyward-Bey 4 85 0 59

M. Reece 4 58 0 35

B. Myers 7 44 0 17

R. Streater 2 41 0 23

D. Moore 4 36 1 17

D. McFadden 4 28 0 11

M. Goodson 1 6 0 6

Fumbles FUM LOST REC YDS

C. Palmer 2 1 1 0

P. Adams 1 1 0 0

D. Moore 1 0 1 0

J. Hanson 0 0 1 0

L. Houston 0 0 0 0

Kicking FG LG XP PTS

S. Janikowski 4/5 40 2/2 14

Punting NO AVG I20 LG

S. Lechler 6 33.3 1 49

Kickoff Returns NO AVG TD LG

M. Goodson 4 24 0 45

Punt Returns NO AVG TD LG

P. Adams 4 1 0 5

D. Moore 1 0 0 0

Defense T-A SCK INT FF

L. Houston 5-3 1.0 0 1

T. Branch 4-3 0.0 0 0

M. Burris 4-3 1.0 0 0

R. McClain 4-1 0.0 0 0

T. Kelly 3-1 0.0 0 0

P. Lee 3-1 0.0 0 0

R. Seymour 3-1 1.0 0 0

P. Adams 2-0 0.0 0 0

M. Huff 2-2 0.0 0 0

P. Wheeler 2-2 0.0 0 0

D. Bryant 1-1 0.0 0 0

M. Giordano 1-0 0.0 0 0

A. Carter 0-1 0.0 0 0

J. Hanson 0-3 0.0 0 0

M. Shaughnessy 0-1 0.0 0 0

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