Las Vegas Raiders notebook: What the Raiders are saying after OT win over Ravens
The first game with fans for a regular season game in Allegiant Stadium couldn’t be scripted any better.
An overtime game capped off by a Derek Carr 31-yard pass to Zay Jones gave the Las Vegas Raiders a 33-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the season opener for both teams on Monday.
Jones was mobbed by his teammates on the left side of the end zone, celebrating another Monday night home win in front of 61,756 fans.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden praised Jones during training camp and Monday wasn’t any different.
“I felt like I died and woke up and died again” Gruden said. “I had multiple lives (like a cat).”
Carr and Jones worked out before in early mornings and it paid off. The former Fresno State star was ecstatic for his teammate.
“Zay is my brother,” Carr said. “He’s there every time (working out with him early morning). He’s never missed one since he got here. When I needed him the most, he was there for me. I get to celebrate his success. I hope he finds home here for a long time.”
Last season the Raiders defeated the Saints 34-24 without the attendance of fans because of COVID-19 protocols.
The Raiders thought they had the winner in overtime when Bryan Edwards had a 33-yard reception for a touchdown.
On replay, however, Edwards was ruled down just short of the goal line, and several plays later Carr’s pass was intercepted when the ball bounced Willie Snead’s fingers.
The Ravens got the ball back, but Carl Nassib came up big with a forced fumble that was recovered by Darius Philon.
“Really proud of our players,” Gruden said. “Our defense made a signature play at the end of the game. Impressive victory. Like they say here just win baby.”
Defense made key stops, led by Maxx Crosby
Maxx Crosby finished with two sacks, but it wasn’t just Crosby who stepped up.
The Raiders made key stops when they had to.
Las Vegas finished with three sacks.
“We fought hard,,” Nassib said. “No one blinked and a really great team win for sure. We really want to get better. We’re not stopping here. We’re excited to get better.”
Quinton Jefferson and Nassib each had a forced fumble. Denzel Perryman and Philon had a fumble recovery apiece.
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“We’ve been working together and we take this job seriously,” Crosby said. “We see everybody making plays. We’ve been emphasizing on making plays. We never make things easy on ourselves. We stayed locked in and we had to make another stop and we took the ball away. I love playing with this group.”
Carlson comes up big
The Raiders were trailing 27-24 with 42 seconds remaining.
No problem for Carr and kicker Daniel Carlson.
Carlson nailed a 55-yard field goal to send the game to overtime after Carr quickly moved the Raiders downfield.
Another comeback for Carr
Carr led his 22nd fourth quarter comeback of his career and set the NFL record for most fourth quarter comebacks (21) through a player’s first seven seasons in the league.
“It’s funny, as I said, I told ESPN after the game that it feels like my career was like, ‘Yes! Crap!’. We won the game, it feels so good, especially winning the first one,” Carr said. “Playing a team like this, defense like this and a superstar like Lamar, you know it’s going to be a tough fight. This defense every time I’m play them, you know it’s hard to get one first down. And to open with them, you don’t have any film of what they’re doing that season, so it’s just new. Just coming at you from everywhere, but we’re able to handle it. I thought at times, early on, especially we were not on the same page. Communication wise, execution wise and that always falls on my shoulders, and I’ll get it better. We need to before our short week going to Pittsburgh.”
This and that
▪ Darren Waller finished with 10 receptions for 105 yards and one TD. He registered his 11th career 100-yard receiving game and his fourth career game with 10 or more receptions.
▪ Josh Jacobs rushed for two TDs to record multiple TDs in the season opener for the third consecutive year, becoming the first Raider to accomplish the feat in three consecutive seasons while tying Marcus Allen for the most multi-TD games overall in Week 1.
▪ Crosby becomes just the third Raiders player since 2000 to record at least two sacks in a season opener, joining Benson Mayowa (2019) and Richard Seymour (2009,2011).
▪ The Raiders have won the season opener for the third consecutive season, marking the first time the club has done so since 2000-02.
Injury updates
In his first weekly press conference Tuesday, Gruden didn’t give the status on the injuries to Gerald McCoy (knee), Marcus Mariota (quad) and Denzelle Good (knee) other than it could be a long-term injury.
Gruden said the players will continue to get evaluated.
Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue left the game with a hamstring injury.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 10:06 PM.
