Oakland Raiders wide receiver Johnny Holton (16) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second half of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Entering the game, the Oakland Raiders knew that a win over the New York Giants coupled with a loss by the Kansas City Chiefs would put them in the hunt for the AFC West crown.

Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 17 times for 101 yards, that included a season-long 51-yard touchdown run on the Raiders’ third play from scrimmage and the Raiders hung on to defeat the New York Giants 21-17 before a crowd of 54,994 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

“It was obviously an explosive play. I think it was the longest run of the year for him with us. It was a great job executing the play and him hitting it and taking t to the house. It was awesome for us to get that start,” said Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio.

With the victory, and the Chiefs loss to the New York Jets, the Raiders, the Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers are tied for the lead in the AFC West with four games remaining.

Lynch took the ball on all three plays of the Raiders’ initial drive that culminated with him finding a hole and scampering 51 yards to the end zone to give the Raiders a quick 7-0 lead just 1:31 after getting the ball from the Giants, who went three-and-out on the first drive of the game.

Without the services of the suspended Michael Crabtree and the injured Amari Cooper, who missed the game due to an ankle injury, Derek Carr found other weapons in his arsenal on the afternoon.

Carr ended the afternoon going 22-for-36 with 287 yards passing and a touchdown, as the Raiders stayed in the playoff hunt.

Seth Roberts led the Raiders in catches, as he caught five passes for 46 yards, while Cordarrelle Patterson caught four passes for a team-leading 97 yards.

Johnnie Holton caught three passes for 39 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass that gave the Raiders a 24-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

“I knew it was a touchdown. I took some steps I feel. I tried to make the defender miss, the ball ended up coming out, but I recovered it to make sure it was a touchdown for sure,” said Holton.

Just prior to the Holton touchdown pass, the Giants cut the Raiders’ lead down to 17-14, as Geno Smith found rookie Evan Engram for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

Engram led the Giants with seven catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. The talented rookie also made a terrific one-handed catch to get the Giants into field goal on what ended up being their final drive of the afternoon.

After there was no scoring in the third quarter, the two teams scored on every possession in the fourth quarter.

DeAndre Washington gave the Raiders a 10-point lead, as he scampered in from nine yards out and then Engram got the Giants within three. Then, Holton essentially put the game with his 16-yard touchdown pass and then Aldrick Rosas closed the scoring with his 52-yard field goal.

In his first game as starter of the Giants, Smith went 21-for-34 for 212 yards passing and a touchdown.

Smith became the first quarterback not named Eli Manning to start a game for the Giants in the last 210 games, the second-longest streak in NFL history behind Brett Favre’s 297 consecutive game streak.

“I thought Geno competed at a high level. There were a couple fumbles, we’ll have to take a look at the tape. The one where he was throwing, trying to pull it back, and it got away from him. The one where the ball got ripped out of his hands there. That nice two-minute drive at the end of the ball game, he did something creative and threw a nice ball for the touchdown. I thought he competed,” said Giants head coach Ben McAdoo.

The Giants went right down the field following the Carr to Holton touchdown pass, and Rosas nailed a 52-yard field goal with 1:38 remaining; however, the Raiders recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Notes: Now the Raiders head back out on the road to Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Chiefs, next Sunday afternoon. In their previous meeting, the Raiders edged the Chiefs 31-30, as Carr found Crabtree in the end zone with no time remaining and Giorgio Tavecchio nailed the extra point to give the Raiders that improbable victory. The Chiefs are heading home after a 38-31 loss to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.