On the Raiders’ first possession Sunday in Denver, Marquette King got the Raiders out of a deep hole. Facing a fourth-and-9 from their own 27, King boomed a high punt 51 yards to the Denver 22 where the Broncos’ Emmanuel Sanders had to make a fair catch.
It was a sign of things to come.
While there were a number of big stars in Sunday’s 15-12 Oakland victory – Khalil Mack had five sacks, Derek Carr had two second-half touchdown passes – King was just as important.
While the Oakland offense struggled, King repeatedly kept the Broncos in poor field position and rescued the Raiders from dangerous territory.
King was forced to punt a season-high 10 times for 460 yards, and he put five of those balls inside the Broncos’ 20-yard line. One pinned the Broncos at their own 2.
At one point, too, he boomed a 55-yarder in the fourth quarter that Sanders muffed at his own 11-yard line that set up the Raiders’ go-ahead touchdown moments later.
“If Mack doesn’t get five, or six of whatever it was (sacks), Marquette’s the player of th game,” veteran safety Charles Woodson told Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. “To pin them down there again and again, that’s huge and then had the knuckleball that they fumbled. He was huge. Hat’s off to Marquette.”
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At one point during the game, Eric Galko, an analyst at the NFL website Optimum Scouting tweeted: “Marquette King is the #Raiders best offensive player.”
Said head coach Jack Del Rio: “He was excellent, excellent. Field position is so important in a game that turns into a defensive struggle. So, really happy with the way he kicked the ball today.”
King ranks 12th in the NFL in net punting average (40.3 yards), but is second in punts inside an opponent’s 20, with 31.
The 6-7 Raiders – still hoping to win out and earn a playoff spot – will host the 9-4 Green Bay Packers this Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
