Raiders' late scores beat Bengals 20-17
Raiders wide receiver Louis Murphy catches a pass from quarterback Bruce Gradkowski on the one-yard-line while covered by Bengals cornerback Morgan Trent during their game in Oakland on Sunday, November 22, 2009. Murphy was able to stretch to the goal line to score on the play. The Raiders defeated the Bengals, 20-17.
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / PDPublished: Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 2:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 2:27 p.m.
OAKLAND – When Louis Murphy hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Bruce Gradkowski with 33 seconds left, setting up a game-tying extra point against the Cincinnati Bengals, it seemed like a miracle.
It wasn’t, at least not compared to what happened next.
Rookie Brandon Myers stripped Bengals return man Andre Caldwell on the ensuing kickoff and recovered the ball at the Cincinnati 17-yard line. Three plays later, Sebastian Janikowski kicked the Raiders to a 20-17 win with a 33-yard field goal, shining a ray of sunshine on a team that has been shrouded in darkness for most of the season, and the decade.
“Man, I loved it. I loved it,” cornerback Stanford Routt said of Myers’ play. “I knew we had a chance to go ahead and win the game right then and there instead of going into overtime. Because in overtime, anything can happen.”
Apparently, anything can happen in regulation time, too, if this game is any evidence.
The Bengals came in 7-2, having knocked off the Steelers and the Ravens twice each. They were 9˝-point favorites at the Coliseum.
Cincinnati had several chances to put the game away, too – or to put it differently, the Raiders had chances to lose it.
There were the six consecutive plays the Bengals ran from inside the Oakland 10-yard line midway through the third quarter, Cincinnati up 14-10, set up by Bernard Scott’s 61-yard run. Routt finally ended that threat by sacking Carson Palmer on a blitz on third-and-goal; the Bengals’ Shayne Graham missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt.
Two possessions later, the Bengals were at it again, driving to the Raiders’ 14. But rookie defensive tackle Desmond Bryant caused fullback Jeremi Johnson to fumble and recovered the loose ball himself, giving the Raiders new life.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Bryant said. “Time kind of slowed down for a second. I was on the ground, and I was looking at the ball on the ground, and I was like, ‘Oh, man, wait. I need to grab that.’ So I reached out and grabbed the ball.”
Finally, there was the climactic 2-minute drill. The Raiders still trailed 17-10 when they got the ball with 2:12 on the clock. And after picking up a couple first downs on Gradkowski’s short passes and one third-down run by Darren McFadden, they faced a fourth-and-10 situation at the Cincinnati 45-yard line, 59 seconds on the clock.
In a quarter when almost everything went right, Gradkowski hit Chaz Schilens for 16 yards and a first down. Three downs later, the quarterback found Murphy, who got a generous cushion from defensive back Morgan Trent, went high to catch the ball, then spun past Trent to the end zone.
The points didn’t go onto the board, though, until a replay review.
That brought up bad memories for Raiders fans – not to mention Murphy, who saw his apparent touchdown against the Chargers in Week 1 overturned upon replay review.
“Oh, man. I was like, here we go again,” Murphy said. “Nah. I just prayed and prayed. I felt I scored.”
He did, and the Raiders wound up with their second out-of-nowhere victory of the year, the other being the 13-9 win over Philadelphia in Week 6.
The first quarter-and-a-half of this game offered little evidence that it could be up for grabs at the end. The Bengals’ first two touchdown drives were painfully easy. They went 78 yards in 14 plays, and a short time later drove 68 yards in nine plays.
Both ended on 1-yard scoring runs by Palmer.
At 7:13 of the second quarter, the Bengals were up 14-0 and in complete command. At that point, they held huge advantages in yardage (195-14), first downs (14-1) and time of possession (19:48 to 3:00).
The Raiders finally mounted a good-looking possession of their own later in the second quarter, going 71 yards in nine plays and ending with Gradkowski’s 10-yard touchdown strike to tight end Zach Miller.
It was the quarterback’s first TD pass of the year.
More significant was the defensive improvement.
“It was like the game started slowing down for us,” cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. “A lot of the stuff they did on film, they didn’t do against us. It seemed like they had a particular game plan for our game. And it was like they weren’t gonna deviate from it, and so we figured it out. … We were like, ‘We can play with these guys.’”
Asomugha sealed the game by intercepting Palmer’s Hail Mary pass as time expired.
Gradkowski was solid in his first start for the Raiders, having replaced the struggling JaMarcus Russell. He completed 17 of 34 passes for 183 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
It was good enough for a win. Getting another at Dallas this Thursday will be difficult, but embattled coach Tom Cable retains his faith.
“We’re still playing for each other,” Cable said. “We’re still trying to straighten out this football team in its path and its return to greatness. It’s not been easy. It’s been very difficult, quite honestly, but days like this make you feel like you’re making strides that way.”
You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.
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