Raiders at Jaguars: 3 things we learned
The Oakland Raiders remained perfect away from home by winning at Jacksonville on Sunday. Here are three takeaways from that contest.
So much for the Black Hole. Perhaps the Oakland Raiders are better off remaining a traveling road show. Jack Del Rio’s team raised their record away from home to 4-0 this season with a comfortable 33-16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Raiders stood out in all three facets of the game. They maintained balance on offense, played opportunistic football on defense and easily won the kicking game battle.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars lost at home for the third time in 2016. So what did we learn about two clubs that are trying to get back to the playoffs this year following long droughts?
1. Carr to Crabtree a winning combo
Second-year Amari Cooper has been the team’s home-run threat since he entered the league a year ago. But Crabtree has been Oakland’s most reliable pass-catcher. He’s now been targeted 59 times and caught 39 passes for 461 yards. And while Cooper has totaled 100-plus receiving yards three times this year, he’s reached the end zone only once. Meanwhile, the one-time San Francisco 49ers wideout has hauled in six of Derek Carr’s 13 aerial scores in 2016.
2. Raiders special teams stand out
Could the Oakland specialists do any more this weekend? Veteran kicker Sebastian Janikowski connected on four field goals and totaled 15 points. Punter Marquette King not only averaged 54.6 yard per boot and put four of his five kicks inside the 20, he also took off on a 27-yard run when his team was facing fourth-and-24 with 3:42 to play. And Oakland’s kick coverage units had one of the team’s three takeaways when they recovered a fumble by Jacksonville’s Rashad Greene on a botched punt return.
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3. Jaguars remain mistake prone
Hanging onto the football has been a season-long problem for Gus Bradley’s team. While the defense continues to show improvement, the Jaguars continually shoot themselves in the paw. They turned over the ball three more times on Sunday, bringing their takeaway total for the season to an even dozen. And all but one of those miscues have been on quarterback Blake Bortles (9 interceptions, 2 lost fumbles).