Raiders' Amari Cooper has breakout game at right time

OAKLAND - Amari Cooper’s prodigious night came in one of the most thrilling Raiders games at the Coliseum in recent memory.

Cooper finished with a career-high 210 yards receiving, and added two touchdowns on 11 catches in Oakland’s heart-stopping 31-30 win, which snapped a four-game losing streak and ended a string of disappointing games for the Raiders’ third-year receiver.

Cooper’s final catch Thursday was a 39-yard reception that took the ball to the Chiefs’ 42 with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter. The play came on a Raiders’ second-and-20 as Cooper was targeted by quarterback Derek Carr a staggering 19 times in the game.

In all, Carr threw for 417 yards as the Raiders routinely tried to stretch the field and test the Chiefs’ secondary, and in particular, Kansas City cornerback Phillip Gaines. Besides Cooper, Jared Cook had 107 yards on six catches.

“We have a lot of playmakers at the receiving position, and we went into this week saying that we wanted to take more shots,” Cooper said. “More explosive plays.”

Cooper’s final catch, though, became a footnote as the Raiders later moved the ball to the Chiefs’ 1 with three seconds left.

After one penalty on Michael Crabtree and two on Kansas City safeties Ron Parker and Eric Murray, Crabtree caught a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Derek Carr to tie the game 30-30 on a second untimed down. Giorgio Tavecchio hit the extra point and Oakland (3-4) celebrated its biggest win of the year.

“It was crazy, but that’s the game of football,” Cooper said. “That’s sports.”

The passing game for the Raiders had been stuck in neutral since they beat the New York Jets 45-20 on Sept. 17.

In the past four games, all Raiders losses, Cooper had caught a combined nine passes for 51 yards. Cooper came into Thursday with just 18 receptions for 146 yards and one touchdown for the season.

“Coop always open. It’s just about everything coming together,” said Crabtree, who had three catches for 24 yards. “Coop a fighter, man. Coop got skills. I don’t worry about Coop, and I’m sure he don’t worry about me.”

Cooper nearly surpassed his yards total from the last four games after the Raiders’ first drive of the night.

Cooper caught a 12-yard pass from Carr on the Raiders’ first offensive play and later hauled in a 38-yard touchdown with just over eight minutes left in the first quarter. The catch came after a flea-flicker between Carr and Marshawn Lynch, as it was later confirmed that Cooper had broken the plane after an official review.

“It was great,” Cooper said when asked about the first drive. “With every offensive position, running back, receiver, whatever, you get that first touch and it creates a little bit of confidence and you start to believe that you can really do your thing.”

Cooper became the first Raiders receiver this season to have 100 yards receiving in a game, reaching the mark in the first half with five catches for 113 yards.

Cooper caught a 45-yard touchdown reception with 40 seconds left in the first quarter that gave the Raiders a 14-10 lead.

Now it’s a matter of carrying what happened Thursday into next Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills. The Raiders are still two wins back of the Chiefs (5-2) and have two more losses than the Denver Broncos (3-2).

“A big part of football is momentum,” Cooper said, “and hopefully this game can create a rhythm for our team and we can start to get that momentum.”