Don’t look now, but the Las Vegas Raiders are rolling again. They are 2-0 under interim coach Rich Bisaccia after taking out the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-22. Vegas is playing their best football of the season right now. In fact, it’s actually too bad that they have their bye in Week 8 when they are doing so well these past two weeks.
Normally, these revisiting articles avoid giving too much attention to Derek Carr, despite the fact that he has had an incredible season so far. This is the week we will no longer be afraid. After all he just went 31 of 34 passing against the Eagles. He finished the game with 323 yards and two touchdowns.
The only blemish was the interception on the Raiders’ first drive of the game that went right through Jalen Richard’s hands. That wasn’t all on Carr, Richard should have caught it. He did rocket it to him while being only a few yards away though, so Carr wasn’t faultless either.
His completion percentage of 91.2% was a career high. According to Pro Football Reference, it is the 23rd best single game completion percentage in NFL history. Even more impressively, it was actually the second-best completion percentage in NFL history with 30 or more attempts. Only Drew Brees had a better performance when he went 29 of 30 to set the all time record of 96.7%.
Accuracy Kills…
Ironically, it was not a Raiders record for percentage either. That honor is retained by none other than Ken Stabler. Nonetheless, it was an epic performance by Carr. He certainly deserves praise for one of the most impressive displays of accuracy in Silver & Black history. He didn’t only focus on one receiver either; Carr completed passes to nine different players.
Foster Moreau led the way with 60 yards and a touchdown. Moreau had his first game where he played every offensive snap due to the absence of Darren Waller. Hopefully, the Raiders will find a way to better use their talented and underutilized backup tight end going forward. He definitely earned more reps after the way he stepped in for the missing superstar, Waller.
It was a complete performance by the offense in general, with their running game also finally getting some momentum. The Eagles’ defense has struggled in that area, so it may have been more the Eagles’ not being great against the run than the Raiders suddenly figuring out their rushing attack though. Still, it was uplifting to see a solid running game performance.
Kenyan Drake led the way in the backfield once again, this time with 14 carries for 69 yards and one touchdown. With six carries for 29 yards and a touchdown, Josh Jacobs averaged nearly five yards per carry. However, Jacobs sat out the second half with a chest contusion.
What about the defense?
Defensively, Denzel Perryman continued his lead leg tackling with another stellar six tackles, one for a loss. However, the unquestioned star defensively in this game was Yannick Ngakoue. He had two big sacks and was constantly harassing Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts with six hurries.
If Hurts wasn’t as athletic as he is, the team would have had more sacks than just the two from Ngakoue. They had 16 hurries and six hits, according to Pro Football Focus. They also added two fumble recoveries. A shout out to Quinton Jefferson for his strip of Kenneth Gainwell in the final two minutes of the first half.
That play was huge even though the Raiders only capitalized with a field goal. Still, it was part of the sequence at the end of the first half and start of the 2nd when the Raiders went from being tied 7-7 to being up 24-7. The Raiders scored 17 unanswered points with the Eagles only having the ball for a total of four seconds of game time. That’s how you take command of a game.
Next up…
Next up for the Raiders is the bye week, but then, they will take on the New York Giants on November 7th. The G-Men are just 2-5 on the season, making it a classic trap game for Las Vegas. They can’t afford to take it lightly and lose the momentum they have built. It will be important for the Raiders to come out ready and not rusty after their week off.
Until then, though, fans get to take some time to salivate over this high-flying performance against the Eagles. It’s been a tumultuous season with the disgraced Gruden debacle, but the Raiders have taken it in stride on their way to a 5-2 start to the season.
The team has started fast the last two seasons in a row only to miss the playoffs, so we know we can’t celebrate too much. Still, 5-2 is certainly worthy of a pretty damn big smile for Raider Nation at the bye. Enjoy yourselves, because you only have two weeks before it’s time to get back to work.
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*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images