Photo by Tony Gonzales
The Raiders fell to the Houston Texans 14-30 at O.co Coliseum on Sunday, dropping the team's record to 0-2 on the season. With the loss, the Raiders' all-time regular-season record falls to 434-377-11 and 8-26 under Head Coach Dennis Allen. Allen is now 6-11 at O.co Coliseum.
The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for Oakland over the Houston Texans (10/9/11 and 11/17/13). The Texans improve their lead in the all-time series to 6-3 and the Raiders are now 1-4 in home games against Houston.
Coach Allen is now even at 3-3 against AFC South opposition. The three wins are still tied for Allen's most against any division (three wins vs. AFC West).
In games immediately following trips to the Eastern time zone since 2012, the Raiders are now 4-5 and 3-4 in home games.
The Raiders remain perfect in the red zone this season, scoring a TD on both of the team's trips inside the 20 today.
In the fourth quarter, the Raiders converted on their first two fourth down attempts of the season as QB Derek Carr kept the ball and moved the sticks, and WR James Jones hauled in an 11-yard reception.
The Raiders defense was held without a sack for the first time since Nov. 18, 2012 vs. New Orleans, a 23-game span.
Individual Notes: Offense
QB Derek Carr became just the second Raiders QB to start multiple games in his rookie season, the other being QB Matt McGloin (six games in 2013).
Carr finished the game with 263 yards on 27-of-43 passing, one TD and two INTs. His 263 yards move him past Nick Papac (173), Todd Marinovich (243), David Humm (246), Chon Gallegos (298) and JaMarcus Russell (373) for the second most passing yards by a rookie Raider QB (414).
With his 27 completions, Carr advances past Marinovich (23) and JaMarcus Russell (36) and into second place among Raider rookie QBs (McGloin leads with 118 in 2013).
Carr rushed around the left edge for the Raiders' first big offensive play of the game, a 41-yard read-option run, the second-longest QB run by a Raider since 2000 (Terrelle Pryor, 93-yard run, 10/27/13). With the rush, Carr passed Larry Lawrence (39 yards in 1974) for the most rushing yards by a Raider QB in his rookie season. He finished with four rushes for 58 yards (14.5 avg.) on the ground.
RB Darren McFadden earned his first start of the season and finished the contest with 12 carries for 37 yards (3.1 avg.) and one TD. McFadden moves past Marv Hubbard (1,938 yards) and into fourth place on the all-time rushing list at O.co Coliseum with 1,951 career yards at home.
McFadden punched it into the end zone in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run that he bounced around the left end for the Raiders' first points of the game. It was McFadden's 24th career rushing TD and his first of the season, as well as the Raiders' first rushing TD of the year. McFadden's 24 career rushing TDs are now tied for eighth in franchise history with Charlie Smith.
WR James Jones scored the second Raiders touchdown of the game with a 9-yard catch in the fourth quarter. He also led the team in receiving and posted his 10th career 100-yard receiving game, his first with the Silver and Black. Jones finished with 9 receptions for 112 yards and one TD). The last Raider to have at least 100 yards receiving in a game was Rod Streater at the New York Jets on Dec. 8, 2013 (seven receptions for 130 yards). As of the end of the game, Jones is now tied for eighth (Calvin Johnson) with 19 TD receptions since 2012.
TE Mychal Rivera tied his single-game high with five receptions. His last five-reception game also came against Houston during the teams' last meeting on Nov. 17, 2013. Rivera finished with 31 yards (6.2 avg.).
Individual Notes: Defense
LB Sio Moore got off to a fast start in the game, making several big tackles on the Texans' opening drive including a 2-yard tackle for loss of Texans RB Arian Foster and another stuff of Foster at the Raiders' own 1-yard line. Moore finished with 6 tackles (4 solo).
Rookie LB Khalil Mack forced a Texans fourth down when he batted down a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass at the line of scrimmage, his first career pass defensed. Mack later put a big hit on Fitzpatrick inside the red zone, forcing him to throw incomplete.
CB Chimdi Chekwa recorded a pass defensed, the third of his career, for the first time since he had two vs. the New York Jets on Sept. 25, 2011.
S Tyvon Branch led the team in tackles with 11 (9 solo).
Individual Notes: Special Teams
K Sebastian Janikowski kicked off three times in the game, tying him with Matt Stover (1,105) for sixth all-time.
Janikowski converted two extra-point attempts, making that 169 straight successful PATs for the Raider kicker.
LB Bojay Flimoeatu made his NFL debut as part of the opening kickoff team, seeing action on special teams throughout the game.
RB Latavius Murray returned kicks for Oakland, bringing back 4 kickoffs for 103 yards (25.8 avg.).
DE Justin Tuck blocked a Texans field goal by K Randy Bullock in the fourth quarter. The blocked kick marks the 19th blocked field goal by the Raiders since 1998.
