Oakland Raiders 27, Cleveland Browns 20.

Derek Carr continued where he left off against the Ravens last week with another breakout performance – this time against the Browns.  Again he favorite target was rookie Amari Cooper, who had over one hundred yards receiving before half time.

What was different in this game however was the Raiders also got their rushing attack going to the tune of 139 yards for Murray and 155 yards total.

But the real thing of beauty in this game was the play that ended a late comeback push for the Browns and sealed the victory. It was the 61st interception for future Hall Of Fame defensive back –  Charles Woodson. The Raiders bated the Browns into throwing the ball and as soon as it was released it was clear what had happened. Woodson’s interception also ties an NFL record – most seasons consecutive with an interception – at 18 seasons. It also moves him into 11th all-time on the leaderboard.

The eleven game streak of road loses is now a memory and the Raiders now sit at 2-1 and second place in the division behind the Broncos.

The Oakland Raiders notched the first win of the 2015 season on Sunday with a 37-33 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. It ends a four game winning streak by the Ravens over the Raiders.

Derek Carr had what many called a breakout performance against a Ravens defense that struggled – just the Raiders defense did – all day to stop (just four punts total in the game – two each).  Carr distributed the ball to ten different receivers including three for touchdowns – the gaming winning TD to Seth Roberts and one each for the Raiders top wideouts (Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper).

Both Cooper and Crabtree ended the day with over one hundred yards receiving (9 for 111 for Crabtree and 7 for 109 for Cooper).

This might also prove to be the game that changed the Raiders fortunes and it was the game winning drive that will be it’s catalyst. The Ravens had tied the game up at 30-30 and then picked off Carr and then thanks to a little luck the Raiders defense held the Ravens to just a field goal and their first lead in the game.  It’s at this point in games that the Raiders of the past decade have folded and started to look forward to next year but not these Raiders.

Carr then marched the Raiders down the field and capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Seth Roberts on a very well executed play that left the Wideout sitting in a massive hole in the Ravens defense. It was Carr’s second game winning drive and possibly the point in which the Raiders offense turned the corner. Time will tell but it sure felt good.

WR Brice Butler, CB Dexter McDonald, RB Roy Helu Jr., G Jon Feliciano, OT Matt McCants, TE Gabe Holmes, DE Benson Mayowa

• Surprised at Butler being inactive. Good news for Seth Roberts and Rod Streator.
• Roy Helu being inactive says that Taiwan Jones might be seeing a lot of action today in support of Murray.
• Gabe Holmes being on the list tells us they are confident of getting production out of Clive Walford today as at left the third TE.

The Raiders take the field today with new LB Aldon Smith expected to be in uniform and hopefully creating the kind of chaos he did when playing for the team across the bay.
Hopefully we see the Aldon Smith from this last full seasons (2012) where he had 19.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception. And then later (with a little luck, in sixteen games time), the guy that has 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in the playoffs.

With the signing it forced the Bengals to re-evaluate how they where going to handle the Raiders pass rush and signaled to the league that the Raiders are looking to start winning now.

The Raider Nation is rising again.

George Atkinson III, RB (Notre Dame)
Mitch Bell, G (Louisiana Tech)
SaQwan Edwards, CB (New Mexico)
Garrett Gilbert, * QB (SMU)
Shelby Harris, DE (Illinois State)
Dan Kistler, T (Montana)
Tevin McDonald, S (Eastern Washington)
Leon Orr, DT (Florida)
Josh Shirley, LB (UNLV)
Max Valles, DE (Virginia)

The Raider must have liked what they saw of Kam Chancellor’s half brother in the final exhibition game against the Seahawks because they have picked him up.

The undrafted free agent out of Norfolk State played on thirty one snaps in the game and recorded five tackles on defense plus an additional two on special teams.

Lambert played in 47 games with 40 starts during his four-year college career. He had two hundred and six career tackles including ten tackles for loss. Plus eight interceptions and twenty-six pass breakups.

Cornerback SaQwan Edwards was waived in order to make room for Lambert.