Halfway through the third quarter Sunday, the Raiders trailed the Buffalo Bills 24-9.
But just as they have all season, the Raiders had their opponents just where they wanted them.
The Raiders offense exploded while the silver and black defense got nasty, with Oakland scoring four unanswered touchdowns in a 38-24 victory over the Bills at a loud, excited O.co Coliseum that had happy Raiders players jumping up and down in glee at the end of the game.
With their sixth straight victory the AFC West-leading Raiders improve to 10-2.
The Raiders’ big-play offense was on display, as it has been regularly with games on the line in the second half of games in 2016.
The Raiders began their comeback with Derek Carr’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with just over 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter, The Oakland defense then held and picked up good field position with a 17-yard punt return by Jalen Richard, setting up a short 38-yard drive that ended with Latavius Murray’s 1-yard TD run.
In the fourth quarter, Carr connected with Amari Cooper on a 37-yard scoring pass to give Oakland the lead. They scored again on Latavius Murray’s 3-yard run – and a two-point conversion pass from Carr to Seth Roberts – to go up 38-24.
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That score was set up by Khalil Mack, who hit Buffalo QB Tyrod Taylor as he was throwing, allowing the pass to be picked off by Nate Allen and returned to the Bills’ 16.
Carr again was terrific with the game on the line and completed 19-of-35 throws for 260 yards and two TDs without an interception. He completed passes to seven different receivers, with Crabtree leading with seven catches for 74 yards.
The running game was solid, with Murray (82 yards) and Richard (53) each contributing runs of more than 20 yards.
Mack, last week's NFL Defensive Player of the Week, had another tremendous game, with seven tackles, a sack, a batted pass, a recovered fumble and a quarterback hit. Bruce Irvin, Denico Autry and James Cowser also had sacks.
Now, the Raiders face perhaps their most significant game of the season on a short turnaround.
Oakland must travel to Kansas City for a Thursday night game against the Chiefs (5:25 p.m. kickoff). The Chiefs at 9-3 are in second place in the AFC West and are the last team to have beaten Oakland. That came on Oct. 16 in a 26-10 victory at Oakland.
