TE Mychal Rivera makes one of his two touchdown catches. Photo by Tony Gonzales
The Raiders fall to 0-8 on the season with a 24-30 loss on the road to the Seattle Seahawks (5-3). The defeat brings Interim Head Coach Tony Sparano's record to 0-4 with the Raiders and 29-36 (.446) overall as a head coach.
The loss drops the Raiders to 27-24 (1-1 in postseason) and 9-15 on the road in the all-time series against the Seahawks.
Oakland's 21 second-half points are the most since a 24-point performance against the New York Jets on Dec. 8, 2013.
The Raiders took an early lead after taking the opening drive 50 yards in 12 plays (5:50) to set up K Sebastian Janikowski for a successful 48-yard FG attempt. The Raiders have scored on three of eight opening drives this year.
Carr finished a five-play, 30-yard drive (2:22) with a 1-yard TD pass to TE Mychal Rivera on a fourth-and-goal play to pull the Raiders to within one score in the third quarter. The last time the Raiders scored a TD on fourth down was on Dec. 8, 2013 when QB Matt McGloin hit Rivera for a 1-yard score.
The Raiders scored yet another third-down TD in the game, coming on the game's second 1-yard TD pass from Carr to Rivera. Oakland now has seven third-down TDs this season, six of them coming on Carr passes.
Carr's fourth-quarter TD pass to Rivera marks the eighth time this season (four TDs) the Raiders have scored with less than two minutes remaining in a half.
The Raiders scored their first special teams touchdown of the season when rookie DE Denico Autry blocked a Jon Ryan punt on Seattle's first possession of the second half, leading to a recovery in the end zone for a TD by WR Brice Butler. That marks the Raiders' fourth TD on a blocked punt since 2000 and their first since Rashad Jennings blocked a Sav Rocca punt vs. Washington on Sept. 29, 2013.
Oakland's defense was able to hold Seattle's offense for much of the game by forcing three three-and-out drives and six punts, including three in a row to start the second half. On Seattle's four trips to the red zone, the Raiders' defense buckled down and held them out of the end zone twice (50.0 percent).
The Raiders' defense denied the Seahawks any points on a short field following a second-quarter fumble, which gave Seattle the ball on the Raiders' 31-yard line. The defense forced a three-and-out and then watched a Steven Hauschka FG attempt sail wide to the left.
Individual Notes: Offense
QB Derek Carr completed 24-of-41 passes (58.5 percent) for 194 yards, two TDs and two INTs. In the first quarter, Carr became the leading rookie passer in franchise history, overtaking Matt McGloin (1,547) and finishing with 1,711 passing yards on the season.
Carr now has 11 TD passes this season, tying the second most by a rookie through eight games in NFL history (Andy Dalton, 12 in 2011).
Carr's 24 completions move him ahead of Cam Newton (174 in 2011) for the second most completions by a rookie through eight games since 1960.
RB Darren McFadden finished the contest with 20 yards on 13 carries, moving him ahead of Napoleon Kaufman (978) for the fourth most rushing attempts in Raiders history. McFadden also led the team in receiving with four receptions for a season-high 47 receiving yards.
WR Andre Holmes caught two passes for 28 yards in the game, tying his season high with 25 receptions on the season.
Holmes and WR James Jones became the first receiving duo since Jerry Porter and Randy Moss (2005) with at least 400 receiving yards and three TDs each through eight games.
TE Mychal Rivera finished the game with eight receptions for 38 yards and two TDs, both 1-yard receptions from Carr. Rivera now has six TD receptions in his career, tied for 10th all-time among Raider tight ends, and two this season. It is the first multi-TD game of Rivera's career.
Rivera's two touchdown receptions are the most by a Raiders tight end since Nov. 4, 2012 when Brandon Myers posted two.
Rivera's eight receptions and two scores are new single-game bests for the second-year player. Rivera now has 66 receptions in his career, good for 12th place among tight ends on the Raiders' all-time list.
RB Latavius Murray caught the first passes of his NFL career, totaling two receptions for 12 yards.
Individual Notes: Defense
CB TJ Carrie broke up a first-quarter pass from Russell Wilson, passing Rolando McClain (six in 2010) to set the Raider record for passes defensed by a rookie with his seventh of the season. Carrie forced a punt on the next play by pressuring Wilson into an incomplete pass.
LB Khalil Mack was once again effective in stopping the run, forcing a couple of negative plays for the Seahawks: He brought down Christine Michael for a 1-yard loss in the second quarter, and then stopped Marshawn Lynch for a 2-yard loss in the third.
LB Sio Moore sacked Wilson for a 2-yard loss in the second quarter, giving him 2.0 on the season (tied for the team lead) and 6.5 in his career. On the next play, Moore again put pressure on Wilson and forced an incompletion and a Seahawks punt.
Moore finished the game as the Raiders' leading tackler with 11 stops (eight solo) and the one sack.
Individual Notes: Special Teams
K Sebastian Janikowski capped off the Raiders' opening drive with a 48-yard FG. Janikowski finished the game 1-for-2 on FG attempts, including a miss from 51 yards out. The 51-yard attempt moves Janikowski ahead of Morten Anderson (84) for the second place all-time in attempts from 50-or-more yards out.
Janikowski punched two of his five kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks, moving him ahead of Olindo Mare (301) for second place all-time with 302 career touchbacks on kickoffs.
Janikowski converted all three of his extra-point attempts in the game, extending his streak to 180.
P Marquette King booted a 53-yard punt inside the Seahawks' 5-yard line that was fielded by Doug Baldwin and returned for -2 yards, giving Seattle it's worst starting field position (own 2-yard line) of the game.
King punted six times in the game for an average of 52.3 yards per punt. That marks the second highest single-game average in King's career (54.2 at SD on Dec. 22, 20134) and the highest single-game average by a Raiders punter (min. six attempts) since Shane Lechler averaged 52.3 yards per punt on Sept. 22, 2003.
CB TJ Carrie set new career longs with a 42-yard kickoff return and a 27-yard punt return, the latter coming in the third quarter and setting up the Raiders at the Seahawks' 30-yard line. Carrie finished with two kickoff returns for 69 yards (34.5 avg.) and two punt returns for 29 yards (14.5 avg.).
Rookie DE Denico Autry, playing in just his second NFL game, blocked a Jon Ryan punt on Seattle's first second-half drive that was recovered by WR Brice Butler in the end zone. That marks Oakland's first blocked punt since Rashad Jennings blocked a Sav Rocca punt against Washington on Sept. 9, 2013; that punt was also recovered in the end zone, by Jeremy Stewart, for a score.
WR Brice Butler's recovery of Autry's blocked punt in the end zone gave him his second career touchdown and second special teams fumble recovery (Nov. 24, 2013 vs. Ten.).
WR Denarius Moore added a 23-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, the second longest of his career (long: 34 yards – Nov. 20, 2011 at Min.).
