Derek Carr and the Raiders did it again.
Oakland fought back Sunday afternoon for a 35-32 victory over the Carolina Panthers to stretch their AFC West-leading record to 9-2.
Trailing the Panthers by eight points in the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum, Carr led the Raiders on a 75-yard march that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Clive Walford. Carr then hooked up with Seth Roberts for the two-point conversion.
Then, after forcing the Panthers to punt, the Raiders drove from their own 13 to the Carolina 5, where Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 23-yard field goal to put the Raiders up by three with less than 2 minutes remaining.
The Panthers still had a chance to get into position for a game-tying field goal, but on fourth-and-10 from the Oakland 44 with a minute remaining, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton was sacked by Khalil Mack, and the Raiders were able to run out the clock to secure the victory.
It was another terrific, clutch performance by Carr in the fourth quarter, after he suffered an injury to the little finger on his throwing hand in the third quarter when the Panthers outscored Oakland 18-0 in rallying from a 24-7 halftime deficit. (X-rays taken when he was temporarily forced from the game revealed the injury wasn't serious.)
Carr went into the game already having guided his team to four fourth-quarter comebacks this season, and he also ranked as the NFL’s leading passer in the fourth quarter.
Sports
Carr was 5-of-6 passing on the fourth-quarter touchdown drive (6-of-7 including the conversion throw) and was 3-of-4 on the field-goal drive.
Carr finished the game 26-of-38 for 315 yards and two TDs, with an interception. Michael Crabtree was his prime target, catching eight throws for 110 yards.
On defense, Mack had the sack (on which he also stripped the ball from Newton), six tackles and had perhaps the game’s biggest play, an interception of Newton just before halftime that he returned 6 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career.
With the victory, the Raiders at 9-2 clinched their first winning season since 2002, when they went to the Super Bowl.
The Raiders will stay in Oakland this week to prepare to play host to the Buffalo Bills this coming Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
