Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The Las Vegas Raiders relied on their rushing attack for the third consecutive game and it complemented timely defensive stops perfectly to deliver a 38-20 victory over the Houston Texans in NFL Week 7.
Coming off the bye week, Las Vegas needed to get back on track to keep itself in the NFL playoff race. Far behind the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL standings, Sunday effectively served as a must-win game for a coaching staff and roster that expects to make the playoffs this year. Fortunately, the time to assess the playbook and iron out the mistakes that led to a losing record paid off with a huge victory in Week 7.
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Here are five takeaways from the Las Vegas Raiders’ second victory of the season.
Each of the Raiders’ first six games this season came down to the final 15 minutes. With so many contests all being determined by the final drives of a neck-and-neck battle, head coach Josh McDaniels knew the team needed to deliver in the fourth quarter. They did just that on Sunday.
Las Vegas (2-4) put up not one, not two, but three touchdowns in the final quarter while shutting out the Texans (1-4-1) on their final drives, resulting in a 21-point swing that determined the outcome of a close game for three quarters. While Josh Jacobs and Duron Harmed delivered the touchdown, McDaniels credited everyone for making the little improvement that showed up in the final 15 minutes and it all came from correcting things in practice.
“Just talked about trying to do our job a little bit better. We expected our game to come to come down to the final quarter.”
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels
The Raiders’ defense would come up one more time following Harmon’s interception with a turnover to prevent a touchdown from the arm of Texans quarterback Davis Mills, who completed 28-of-41 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns.
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Coming into the season, the Raiders’ offense was projected to be a committee with a handful of players being focal points at different times. While Davante Adams (95 receiving yards) played well, McDaniels once again relied upon the rushing attack to carry the load. In Week 7, the Raiders’ offense was put on Jacobs’ shoulders.
Jacobs became the eighth player since the NFL merger in 1970 to record three straight games of at least 140 yards and a rushing touchdown in each of those three games. The 24-year-old became the first player to accomplish that feat since Tennessee’s Derrick Henry in 2019.
“Josh is one of the best backs in the league. He is not a slouch back there. If our guys keep working hard and keep doing the right things, then we want to be a balanced football team. We want to win football games and make it hard on people.”
Las Vegas Raiders QB Derek Carr on Josh Jacobs (via Las Vegas Raiders on YouTube)
In addition, Jacobs surpassed Marcus Allen for the most rushing yards in a player’s first 50 games in franchise history. With the Texans focused on trying to contain Jacobs, quarterback Derek Carr completed 21-of-27 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown.
With Jacobs leading the way for the Raiders offensively, it opens up the playbook for future plays.
On the first touchdown drive, just before halftime, they ran nine plays with Jacobs getting the ball on six different plays. After McDaniels called timeout with 31 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Carr, with good O-line protection, was able to find wide receiver Mack Hollins in double coverage for a 26-yard touchdown to tie the score, 10-10.
Having that run-first mentality to the Las Vegas offensive attack is crucial and something McDaniels, Carr and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi need to continue to stick with in the weeks to come. Jacobs’ success in order to establish the run game is related to the offensive players blocking to open up gaps, especially the offensive linemen.
McDaniels added that for this rushing attack to be successful in this league, it is going to take the will of each player in practice, leading to kickoff.
“We want to the be a tough, physical team. There’s no shortcut to that. You have to do the hard things. You’ve got to practice in pads, do the drill that is required of you to improve in those areas, double team each other, you’ve got to work hard at it. You just can’t say we’re going to be a tough team and all of sudden it happens. It’s all about work and you earn the right to be a tough team with what you do during the week.”
Josh McDaniels on the type of football he wants the Las Vegas Raiders to play
One of the challenges through the Las Vegas Raiders’ first five games was their ability to finish drives inside the red zone.
Being able to convert long drives into six points and have kicker Daniel Carlson come out for one point rather than three, is crucial to the offense being able to put the points on the scoreboard, like today, which marked the Raiders’ season-high with 38 points.
Las Vegas also stepped up defensively, only allowing one touchdown on three opportunities and generating one turnover on downs among the Texans’ three red-zone trips.
Part of the Raiders’ 21-0 fourth quarter was not only pure offense, but also a defensive halt as they were able to get back-to-back turnovers late in the game to seal the win.
First, Harmon caught a ball and ran to the end zone for a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter to make it a three-possession game.
Harmon, who has been in the league for over a decade now, said he was focused on finding the most important people besides his teammates after getting into the endzone to celebrate that moment.
“That one is going to my mama. She had me, so that’s the first pick-six that I got, so I am thankful for her. I wanted to acknowledge them because they’re the reason why I’m able to put in as much into football as I do.”
Duron Harmon on giving the football from his pick-six to his mom, celebrating with his family
Then, the team was able to stop the Texans from getting into the endzone in the game’s final two minutes. That shows the focus the defense has in deciding not to let up with a big lead late in ball games.
Harmon was one of three players with six total tackles, along with linebacker Denzel Perryman and cornerback Rock Ya-Sin. Linebacker Divine Deablo had a game-high 11 total tackles followed by safety Jonathan Abram’s eight tackles.
With the win, the Raiders move into sole possession of third place. They’ll travel to the Caesars Superdome to face the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.