In the first quarter, the teams exchanged touchdown drives. After a Tampa Bay three-and-out on their opening drive, Derek Carr marched the Raiders down the field. Nelson Agholor scored his team leading fourth touchdown on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Carr. Tom Brady marched the Bucs down the field on their next drive, capping off a 10 play 77-yard drive with a quarterback sneak touchdown. The Raiders next drive stalled out and settled for a 42-yard Daniel Carlson field goal to take a 10-7 lead. The teams exchanged punts on the next two drives. Tampa Bay scored the next touchdown of the game after Brady found Rob Gronkowski in the endzone, taking a 14-10 lead. After another Raiders punt, The Bucs would once again cap off a 13 play, 88-yard drive with six. Brady connected with Scotty Miller on a 33-yard pass with 17 seconds remaining in the half to give the Bucs a 21-10 lead.
The Raiders got the ball to start the second half but the Tampa Bay defense, ranked first overall in the National Football League, stood tall and forced them to punt. Tampa Bay kicked a field goal to take a 24-10 lead. Down 14 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Raiders desperately needed life. They got just that on the next drive. After two straight penalties by the Bucs defense gave the Raiders a fresh set of downs, Carr connected with Agholor once again for a 44-yard pass to set up first and goal at the Tampa 3-yard line. Two plays later, Carr found Darren Waller on a goal line pass to cut the deficit to seven points. This touchdown came at a price though, as starting guard Gabe Jackson was ejected from the game for a personal foul penalty after the whistle. After a three-and-out by Tampa Bay, the Raiders once again drove down the field and looked poised to tie the game. Unfortunately, a second-down pass from Carr to Agholor was dropped inside the Tampa 10-yard line. The Silver and Black failed to convert on third down and were forced to kick a field goal to make it 24-20.
Things from this point could not have gone worse for Las Vegas. The Bucs next drive ended with a touchdown after Brady connected with Chris Godwin, giving Tampa Bay a 31-20 lead. The Raiders then proceeded to turn the ball over on their next two drives, both of which ended in Tampa Bay touchdowns. The final score was a dismal 45-20 in favor of Tampa Bay. This loss now gives the Raiders a 1-2 record at Allegiant Stadium, and 3-3 overall on the year.
The Tampa Bay defense proved the x-factor in this game. Prior to this game, the Raiders had averaged 121-yards per game rushing. The run game is a huge part of the offense for the Raiders, and Tampa Bay locked down the running attack. They held the Raiders to just 76-yard rushing and only 24 in the first half. The loss of Jonathan Abram hurt the Silver and Black as well, as Tom Brady threw for 369 yards and 4 touchdowns on the day.
The Raiders face another touch challenge next week as they head to Cleveland to face off against the Browns and their potent rushing attack. They play at 10 a.m. on Nov. 1.
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