MEXICO CITY -- Derek Carr woke up a struggling Oakland offense by throwing two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as the Raiders capped a successful trip to Mexico with a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans on Monday night.
Oakland had been held to 120 yards through three quarters with the running game going nowhere and Carr finding few open receivers downfield. But that suddenly changed in the fourth quarter to give the Raiders (8-2) their fourth consecutive victory for the first time since 2002.
Carr finished 21 of 31 for 295 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He had thrown 170 consecutive passes without an interception before he was picked off by A.J. Bouye on the first play of the second half.
Oakland trailed 20-13 early in the fourth before Carr found fullback Jamize Olawale for a 75-yard catch and run that tied the game at 20-20. The Raiders then took advantage on two questionable spots by the officials on Houston's next possession to take over on downs at the 15. Oakland then drove 85 yards in five plays to take the lead on Carr's 35-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper.
That set off loud celebrations from the pro-Raiders crowd of 76,743 in the second regular season game ever played in Mexico. What was originally scheduled as an Oakland home game featured Raiders music during stoppages, Tommie Smith lighting the Al Davis torch in a memorable return to Mexico City nearly a half-century after his Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics and frequent "RAI-DERS!" chants.
While the atmosphere was electric, the field was a bit slippery leading to some falls and the high elevation 7,380 feet above sea level played a factor. The Raiders used a timeout on defense at one point in the fourth to catch their breath and receiver Michael Crabtree was seen gasping for breath at one point.
Quarterback Brock Osweiler finished the game 26 of 39 for 243 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception for Houston (6-4), which punted the ball to Oakland with 3:02 left in the game but never got it back. Lamar Miller ran for 104 yards and a 1-yard score in the third quarter.
Sports on 11/22/2016