Four weeks of frustration ended in a shootout in New Jersey. And the Raiders got there by doing the one thing their coach Klint Kubiak promised all week. They ran the ball, protected it, and outlasted the New York Jets 38-33 to climb back to 4-4.
The defense made it far harder than it needed to be, but nobody in silver and black is complaining after a four-game skid.
Here is who earned the bragging rights and who still owes the coaching staff a better Sunday.
Winner: KR Dylan Laube
Raiders fans finally got the kick return payoff they have been waiting on for years. Laube took one back 95 yards for a touchdown seconds after the Jets went ahead. It was the first kickoff return score in the NFL this season and the Raiders' first since Jacoby Ford's 101-yarder in 2011.
Fittingly,
the drought ended with the league leader in kickoff return averageholding the ball.
Winner: TE Brock Bowers
Bowers caught seven passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, including a 12-yard score on the opening drive and a 2-yard grab to start the second half. Better yet, it was his sixth straight game with at least 70 receiving yards, a single-season run only two other tight ends had managed in the last 45 years, per ESPN Research.
Winner: Klint Kubiak's promise
Kubiak said the Raiders needed to quit throwing it so much, and he walked the talk. The Raiders ran 33 times against 26 pass attempts, and rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. handled 25 carries for 83 yards.
The yards per carry won't win any awards. Then again, the balance kept the Jets guessing and let the offense control the pace for once.
Winner: QB Kirk Cousins
Quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 19 of 26 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and he added a 1-yard scoring run. His 2-yard toss to Jalen Nailor gave the Raiders the lead for good early in the fourth quarter.
On a day when the defense kept springing leaks, Cousins made sure the offense never handed the Jets a gift.
Loser: Raiders run defense
Braelon Allen ran for 147 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, a jaw-dropping 7.0 yards per attempt. The Jets finished with 166 rushing yards and scored on each of their first six possessions.
Jeremy Chinn's end-zone interception with 14 seconds left saved the day, but the ground game has gashed this defense for weeks.
Loser: Raiders secondary after Darien Porter's exit
Cornerback Darien Porter hurt his groin on the first defensive snap and never returned, and the Jets went straight at the replacements. Adonai Mitchell caught seven passes for 142 yards, including a 47-yard grab while falling and a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 fade from the 12.
Loser: RB Ashton Jeanty's hold on the backfield
Second-year running back Ashton Jeanty carried the ball twice for 9 yards while Washington took the heavy lifting. Mind you, Jeanty turned a screen into a 45-yard gain that set up the go-ahead drive, but the carry split tells you where Kubiak's trust sits right now.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders winners & losers from 38-33 victory over New York Jets
