Following outstanding comeback wins from the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, no lead has been safe in the NFL this week. The same was true for the Las Vegas Raiders’ lead Sunday afternoon.

First half

The first half was all Vegas. Taking up the majority of the first quarter on their first drive, Derek Carr connected with Davante Adams for a red zone score. After forcing a punt, the Raiders scored a field goal on their second drive for a 10-0 lead. Continuing this trend for the rest of the half, the Raiders scored alternating field goals and touchdowns on all four of their first-half drives, stopping the Cardinals on each of their drives, only allowing a total of two plays past midfield. 

The Raiders led 20-0 entering halftime, with the future looking anything but bright for the Cardinals and the Raiders looking as though they had put the problems of last week behind them.

Second half

Following a quick punt by each team, the Cardinals started off the second half with Kyler Murray connecting with Greg Dortch for a touchdown. Seeing their vice grip begin to slip on the game, the Raiders scored a field goal on the next drive, going up 23-7 at the end of the third quarter and putting the game just out of Kyler Murray’s reach. Or so the Raiders thought. 

Down 16 points, with just over 12 minutes left in the game, Kyler Murray turned on the afterburners. Completing five of his six pass attempts for 54 yards, Murray found his team down 10 with an upcoming two-point conversion attempt. Murray then proceeded to take the snap and evade the pass rush for an astounding 20.8 seconds before scrambling into the end zone to make it a one-score game at 23-15. Murray’s scramble was clocked by Next Gen Stats at a total of 84.9 yards traveled, the longest distance traveled on a two-point conversion attempt by an offensive ball carrier since Next Gen Stats began tracking in 2016. 

The Raiders attempted to milk the clock on their next possession, getting the ball with eight minutes left and running or throwing dump passes on each of their five plays. While getting the clock under the five-minute mark could be considered a success, the Raiders also gave up the ball to the red-hot Cardinals with a timeout remaining. 

Arizona received the ball at their own 27-yard line and proceeded to march down the field all the way to the 3-yard line for first and goal, using their final timeout and converting two fourth-down attempts along the way. On his first three plays, Murray threw three incompletions, one nearly ending in an interception. Down eight on fourth down and with mere seconds left on the clock, Murray scrambled for a touchdown out of a passing formation, setting up for another huge two-point conversion with no time left on the clock. After a delay of game penalty set Arizona back five yards, Murray zipped a pass to AJ Green in the back of the end zone through traffic to send the game to overtime. 

Overtime

The Cardinals won the coin flip and opted to begin overtime with the ball, and following a strong drive, Arizona ended up at the Las Vegas 37-yard line with one yard to go on fourth down. Coach Kliff Kingsbury made the call for the flaming hot Cardinals to go for the first down, rather than kicking the field goal. Murray dropped back for the pass and threw a deep ball to an open Marquise Brown. Brown, despite burning his coverage, was hit by a streaking safety, causing him to drop the ball and causing the Cardinals to turn the ball over on downs. 

Needing only a field goal to win, the Raiders set out to atone for their mistakes in regulation by coming out with a tally in the victory column. On the third play of the drive, Derek Carr completed a pass to Hunter Renfrow who then fumbled the football forward down the field. Renfrow’s fumble was picked up at the Arizona 39 by Raiders tight end Foster Moreau. On the edge of field goal range, the Raiders were mere yards from victory. After a first down incompletion to Davante Adams, Carr hit Hunter Renfrow once more. Renfrow lost the ball a second time, but this time the Raiders were not lucky enough to keep the ball. Byron Murphy Jr. of the Cardinals scooped the ball up and took it to the house, ending a game that looked to be very much in the hands of the Raiders.

Game notes

  • The Carr-Adams connection that left the Raider faithful looking towards Week 2 with excitement was not the fireworks show that it was in Los Angeles. Adams ended week two with a disappointing stat line of two receptions for 12 yards and a touchdown, with five of his seven targets not connecting. 
  • Outside of Renfrow’s late fumbles, the Raiders’ offense put their ball control troubles behind them, committing no turnovers during regulation. 
  • The Raiders’ third down defense was spectacular, holding the Cardinals to 3-for-13 on third downs. On fourth down, however, Las Vegas allowed conversions on 3-of-5 attempts. 
  • Despite trailing for much of the game, the Cardinals dominated the run game, racking up 143 yards to the Raiders’ 80. Arizona also bested the Silver and Black in yards per carry, tallying 5.1 yards to Las Vegas’ 3.8.
  • During the fourth quarter and overtime, the Raiders were outscored by Arizona 22-0. Las Vegas recorded two total first downs during this time period.

Up next

The Raiders travel to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans in Week 3. The game takes place on Sunday, Sep. 25 at 11 a.m. MT and can be seen on FOX.

All stats are via ESPN.com.

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