Grading the Raiders’ 31-24 win against the Lions
How the team performed in a 31-24 win against Detroit:
Offense: A
It’s tough to assign a lower grade when you tie a season high in points — just the second time the Raiders have scored more than 30 — and produce a seven-play, 75-yard game-winning drive in the final minutes. Derek Carr and Josh Jacobs will get most of the headlines, but fourth-year running back Jalen Richard (66 yards on final scoring drive) came up largest when needed most. Not bad work, also, from a patchwork offensive line that was playing without center Rodney Hudson (ankle) and lost tackle Trent Brown (knee) early.
Defense: C
Talk about a roller-coaster of bad to good and everything in between. The Raiders couldn’t cover themselves for most of the afternoon, — Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford finished 26-of-41 for 406 yards and three scores — but made a stop when winning time was at hand on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with eight seconds remaining. Daryl Worley was shredded early on, but his second-quarter interception of Stafford in the end zone stalled another Lions drive. Oakland allowed eight plays of 20 or more yards. Oof.
Special teams: B
It’s not the fault of this unit that the offense couldn’t generate points from a terrific fake punt on the opening drive of the second half. Daniel Carlson was 1-of-2 on field goals and a foolish fair-catch interference penalty on Keisean Nixon improved Detroit’s field possession by 15 yards on Detroit’s fourth-quarter drive that tied the score at 24.
Coaching: B
The Raiders still allow far too many big plays. Like, huge ones. But given the injury woes of the offensive front and the fact it was the first home game since Sept. 15, a survival mentality to reach 4-4 at the midpoint produced an impressive victory. Now, a short week to prepare for the Chargers on Thursday.
— ED GRANEY