Raiders can't recover after Doug Martin runs wild in Oakland

This game was very competitive in the first half. The Raiders were up 10-7 at halftime to show for it.

There were two highlights in the first half-one for each team. Lamarr Houston got pressure on a field goal try in the first quarter to block the attempt. He then picked up the ball and returned it 34 yards. The Raiders would drive for a field goal to get on the board first.

The Buccaneers would re-take the lead in the second quarter on two long passes to Vincent Jackson. The first for 63 yards and the second for a touchdown from 20 yards out.

The Raiders would then do what they have done every game this season and score in the final two minutes of the first half. This time it was a touchdown. It was set up by a gorgeous one-handed grab for 46 yards by Darrius Heyward-Bey. Then two plays later, Palmer hit Rod Streater for a 25-yard touchdown pass and catch.

The bad news for the Raiders was that Darren McFadden left the game with an ankle injury and did not return. He was replaced by Mike Goodson and then a short time later, Mike Goodson too left with an ankle injury.

As if the loss of the running backs was cause enough to put the ball in the air, the Raiders would give up three touchdowns in the third quarter to put them in a situation where they needed to score a lot of points quickly. The result was 61 passes from Carson Palmer.

But while the Raiders offense was without their top two backs, the Buccaneers needed just one-Doug Martin. He had just 31 yards with no touchdowns at the half but by the time the game was over he had 251 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He had three huge touchdown runs in the third and fourth quarter-45, 67, and 70 yards.

"We didn't tackle well." Dennis Allen said of the big runs the Raiders surrendered. "I thought [the Buccaneers] did a good job of blocking, I thought the runner did a great job of running, and I think we had an opportunity to make a few plays and missed some tackles. And when you miss tackles on that guy, he takes it for big gains and that's exactly what happened."

"Well, we're gonna have to continue to work on it. I think we've done a good job of tackling but today was not one of... was not a good day. We did not tackle well today and we gotta keep working on it and keep improving on it."

The Raiders looked to be out of it down 28-10 and then 35-17 but two late touchdowns and a two point conversion would bring them within a field goal. The defense held and the Raiders would have 2:42 to get in field goal range. On the second play, Palmer threw an interception. The Buccaneers would score another touchdown on three Doug Martin runs to put the game away.

It was one of those games where you look at Carson Palmer's line and wonder whether he is the hero or the goat. He threw for 414 yards on 39 of 61 passes and four touchdowns. He also had three interceptions which killed the Raiders. The Buccaneers converted both into touchdowns with the final one ending the Raiders comeback hopes.

Dennis Allen explained why Carson Palmer threw the ball 61 times: "Well at the end of the day the game ended up dictating that. We were successful moving the football. We didn't make enough plays to win the game but we were successful moving the football. I thought our team hung in there, I thought our team battled. We tried to make a comeback and came up a little bit short."

X-rays on McFadden's ankle came back negative. Goodson was not so lucky as his was ruled a sprained ankle. Matt Giordano also left with a hamstring injury. Desmond Bryant was taken to the hospital with a rapid heartbeat but the Raiders said it was more of a precautionary measure.

Box Score

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4-0) Oakland Raiders (3-5-0)

Buccaneers

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT

J. Freeman 18/30 247 2 0

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG

D. Martin 25 251 4 70T

J. Freeman 5 22 0 13

L. Blount 2 5 0 3

Receiving REC YDS TD LG

V. Jackson 2 84 1 64

M. Williams 4 68 1 37

D. Clark 2 22 0 12

D. Martin 4 21 0 8

N. Byham 2 15 0 10

T. Underwood 1 12 0 12

D. Ware 1 12 0 12

E. Lorig 1 11 0 11

L. Stocker 1 2 0 2

Fumbles FUM LOST REC YDS

J. Freeman 2 1 0 -8

E. Biggers 0 0 0 0

A. Black 0 0 0 0

J. Zuttah 0 0 1 0

Kicking FG LG XP PTS

C. Barth 0/2 0 6/6 6

Punting NO AVG I20 LG

M. Koenen 4 38.5 2 47

Kickoff Returns NO AVG TD LG

A. Benn 2 29 0 34

A. Black 1 3 0 3

Punt Returns NO AVG TD LG

R. Parrish 3 15 0 26

Defense T-A SCK INT FF

L. David 14-2 0.0 0 0

Q. Black 5-0 0.0 0 0

L. Johnson 5-1 0.0 1 0

R. Barber 4-2 0.0 0 0

A. Black 4-1 0.0 1 1

E. Biggers 3-0 0.0 1 1

M. Foster 3-2 0.0 0 0

E. Wright 3-1 0.0 0 0

M. Barron 2-2 0.0 0 0

D. Bowers 2-0 1.0 0 0

M. Bennett 1-0 1.0 0 0

M. Lewis 1-0 0.0 0 0

D. Te'o-Nesheim 1-0 0.0 0 0

G. McCoy 0-1 0.0 0 0

Raiders

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT

C. Palmer 39/61 414 4 3

S. Lechler 1/1 4 0 0

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG

D. McFadden 7 17 0 7

C. Palmer 1 3 0 3

T. Jones 1 2 0 2

M. Goodson 2 0 0 0

Receiving REC YDS TD LG

M. Reece 8 95 1 26

D. Heyward-Bey 5 74 0 46

D. Moore 4 66 0 26

B. Myers 8 59 2 13

R. Streater 4 54 1 25T

M. Goodson 6 52 0 12

R. Gordon 1 8 0 8

D. Hagan 1 6 0 6

T. Jones 1 4 0 4

D. McFadden 2 0 0 2

Fumbles FUM LOST REC YDS

T. Jones 1 0 1 0

M. Reece 1 0 0 0

A. Carter 0 0 0 0

R. Seymour 0 0 1 0

Kicking FG LG XP PTS

S. Janikowski 1/1 29 3/3 6

Punting NO AVG I20 LG

S. Lechler 4 43.0 1 58

Kickoff Returns NO AVG TD LG

M. Goodson 1 22 0 22

Punt Returns NO AVG TD LG

P. Adams 2 0 0 2

Defense T-A SCK INT FF

T. Branch 9-2 0.0 0 0

R. McClain 5-1 0.0 0 0

P. Lee 4-0 0.0 0 0

P. Wheeler 4-2 0.0 0 0

L. Houston 3-0 0.0 0 0

M. Burris 2-4 0.0 0 0

A. Carter 2-0 1.0 0 1

M. Giordano 2-1 0.0 0 0

M. Huff 2-3 0.0 0 0

P. Adams 1-0 0.0 0 0

D. Bryant 1-1 0.0 0 0

T. Kelly 1-1 0.0 0 0

D. Tollefson 1-0 0.0 0 0

M. Shaughnessy 0-1 0.0 0 0