The Raiders appeared to have found an answer to their season — play the Broncos.
Las Vegas took its second game against its division rival Sunday thanks to a walk-off Davante Adams touchdown in overtime. Denver’s defense could only do so much to cover its offense’s 16 points as the Raiders attacked the Broncos with big chunk plays starting the last two minutes of the third quarter into the overtime period.
Adams was remarkably uncovered when Carr threw him the 35-yard pass, and Denver fans left with a wave goodbye from the receiver. The All-Pro wide receiver created 11.9 yards of separation from Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II when Carr’s pass was thrown, according to Next Gen Stats. It was just the third deep reception the second-year corner has given up in his career.
Adams arguably is one of the best in the NFL at creating separation, but it seemed inexplicable how the Broncos defense could let that kind of play happen.
Head coach Josh McDaniels noted in his postgame news conference the Raiders ran a similar concept, and he credits Carr and Adams for making the correct reads for making the big play happen.
“It’s hard to get open like that in the NFL, unless you do a couple of different things,” McDaniels told reporters, per team-provided video.
“That was the route, but it was adjustment based on what they were doing earlier in the game,” Adams told reporters postgame, per team-provided video.
The Week 11 result puts the Raiders and the Broncos at 3-7 on the season. Two of Las Vegas’ three wins have been against Denver, but McDaniels played down any idea of a revenge narrative. The win for the Raiders gives them their first win in one-score games, putting them at 1-6 after Sunday.
Despite a poor record, Las Vegas is three games behind for an AFC wild card spot amid rumors of McDaniel’s job being in jeopardy, which was shut down by owner Mark Davis.
