Raiders defeat Ravens 33-27 in wild OT finish

You couldn’t have asked for a better game to end Week 1 of the NFL season, as the Las Vegas Raiders snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat soon after they had snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory.

It looked like the Baltimore Ravens were going to roll in this one as the Raiders couldn’t get any offense going while Lamar Jackson was making his patented jaw dropping plays. But the Raiders kept it close until they were able to tie it up early in the fourth quarter, 17-17, with Josh Jacobs second rushing touchdown of the night.

The teams then traded touchdowns and field goals, as Justin Tucker hit a 47-yarder with :42 second left on the clock. But that left too much time for Derek Carr and the Raiders, as Carr hit wide receiver Bryan Edwards twice, for 20 and 18 yard completions over the middle of the field with no timeouts. Edwards hadn’t caught a single pass up to that point. That set up kicker Daniel Carlson for a 55-yard attempt, which he nailed to send the game into overtime.

Overtime is where the fun really started. The Raiders won the toss and moved the ball down to the Ravens 33-yard line. But instead of another Carlson kick, Carr connected with Edwards once again, this time for a 33-yard touchdown. Unfortunately for Raiders fans, the call was reversed and they had first and goal at the one. Just punch it in, right?

Here’s where it really gets crazy. The Raiders are called for a false start, backing them up to the six yard line and pushing Carr to pass the ball. Carr puts a ton of heat on a pass to a wide open Willie Snead, who can’t handle it as it ricochets up and is intercepted.

The Ravens have hope again! But on third down Lamar Jackson has the ball swatted from his grip by Carl Nassib. The Raiders recover and are back in business! This was Jackson’s second lost fumble of the game.

Jon Gruden decides to get it over with and brings out Carlson on 2nd and 9 to kick a field goal, but they get called for delay of game, knocking them back five yards and out of field goal range. What is going on? Everyone seems confused, but they bring Carr and the offense back and then this happens on the next play.

Nobody covers Zay Jones and that’s all she wrote. It was a fitting end to a truly wild overtime game and a huge win for a Raiders team that looked dead in the water early on. Both teams now have to turn around and face tough teams in Week 2, as the Raiders now head to Pittsburgh while the Ravens go back home to host the Kansas City Chiefs.