The painful defeat away from home
The Las Vegas Raiders fell 26-14 to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, closing out Week 8 of the NFL. Yes, the Black and Silver struggle away from their home, Allegiant Stadium, as out of their 3-5 record, they have only won once on the road and have suffered four defeats.
In his return from a back injury, Jimmy Garoppolo only completed 10 out of 21 passes for 121 yards and an interception; Josh Jacobs carried the ball 15 times for 61 yards and a touchdown, but also had a fumble; Maxx Crosby once again played a key role in the defense, with eight tackles, five of them solo, a fumble recovery, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit, but it was not enough.
Jared Goff connected on 26 out of 37 passes for 272 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Jahmyr Gibbs was unstoppable on offense: the rookie from Alabama, chosen with the 12th pick in the last draft, ran 26 times for 152 yards and 1 TD, with a longest carry of 27 yards and an average of 5.8 yards per carry. Amon-Ra St. Brown had six receptions for 108 yards.
The match
The Raiders lost by failing to move the ball. They only had 12 first downs compared to Detroit's 29. Six were through passes, four through the ground, and two more due to penalties. In addition, they only converted one of their nine third-down attempts and none of their three fourth-down attempts. With only 45 total yards compared to Detroit's 81, they barely totaled 157 yards and allowed 486.
In the first quarter, Riley Patterson opened the scoring by kicking a 44-yard field goal, and he connected on two more attempts in the second quarter, from 31 and 33 yards, giving Detroit a nine-point lead.
The Raiders narrowed the gap when Josh Jacobs scored on a three-yard carry, but the Lions extended their lead after a nine-play, 79-yard offensive drive in almost two and a half minutes, which ended with an 18-yard reception by Sam LaPorta, who caught Goff's pass for the 16-7 with half a minute before halftime.
In the third quarter, Las Vegas once again reduced that difference to two points, thanks to Marcus Peters intercepting Goff's pass and returning the ball 75 yards for the pick-six, but Jahmyr Gibbs carried the ball 27 yards and the difference went back to being more than one possession. In the last quarter, Patterson scored the 52-yard field goal that set the final score on the scoreboard.