Tag: Dallas Cowboys

Raiders lose by an index card, drop 20-17 decision to Cowboys

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Dallas Cowboys running back Rod Smith, center, scores a touchdown between Oakland Raiders linebacker NaVorro Bowman (53) and strong safety Keith McGill II (39) during the first half of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND–With their playoff lives on the line, the Oakland Raiders saw their hopes take a big hit with the help of an index card. Dan Bailey kicked a 19-yard field goal with 1:44 remaining in the game and the Dallas Cowboys escaped with a 20-17 win at O.co Coliseum Sunday night.

Dak Prescott looked short of the first down on a fourth-and-one play with about five minutes remaining in the game. However, it was so close the chains were brought out and it still looked short. Instead of giving the Raiders the ball on downs, referee Gene Steratore folded an index card, and despite the fact that it was still short, the official gave the Cowboys the first down.

Prescott found Dez Bryant for a 40-yard pass down deep into Raiders territory and then Bailey kicked a 19-yard field goal with 1:44 remaining to give the Cowboys the lead.

“Didn’t use the card to make the final decision. The final decision was made visually. The card was nothing more than a reaffirmation of what was visually done. My decision was visually done based on the looked from the pole,” said Steratore.

Following Bailey’s field goal, the Raiders got the ball and on fourth-and-10 deep into their territory, Derek Carr threw a long pass to Michael Crabtree, but the pass fell to the ground that would have given the Cowboys the ball on downs. However, Cowboys rookie cornerback Jourdan Lewis was called for pass interference, and after the 43-yard penalty, the Raiders were still in business.

Carr drove the Raiders down to the Cowboys’ eight-yard line, and scrambled for what looked like a possible game-winning touchdown. Carr then fumbled the ball through the end zone and the Cowboys got the ball back.

The last play was changed, as Carr was without Crabtree on the final possession of the game after he was sent into the tent for concussion protocol.

“I guess it was the officials. They took me out of the game and the last paly. They took me out and made me go into the tent,” said Crabtree.

Prescott kneeled for a one-yard loss and the Cowboys escaped with a three-point victory (20-17) on the road.

With the win, the Cowboys are in a three-way tie for seventh place in the NFC playoff picture and a half-game behind the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons hold the tiebreaker with the Cowboys after defeating them 27-7 earlier this season. The Falcons play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Monday Night.

As for the Raiders, their playoff hopes are on life support, as they need a lot of help just to get into the postseason. Presently, the Raiders are in ninth place in the AFC and the top six teams go to the playoffs.

The Cowboys pulled off the play of the game in the third quarter, as they faked a punt on fourth-and-11, and Punter Chris Jones scampered down the field for a 24-yard gain.

Prescott ended the drive, as he scored from five yards out to give the Cowboys a 17-10 late in the third quarter.

Carr and Crabtree tied up the game, as they hooked up for the second time in the game, when Carr found Crabtree from two yards out.

On the night, Carr ended 21-for-38 for 171 yards passing and two touchdowns. Carr also added 47 yards on the ground on four carries.

Crabtree caught seven passes for 39 yards and two touchdowns.

Prescott went 18-for-27 with 212 yards passing and two interceptions. It was the first multi-interception game of the season for the Raiders.

Marshawn Lynch led the Raiders with 16 carries for 76 yards.

NOTES: With the home season now done, the Raiders head out on the road to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas night.

UP NEXT: The Cowboys return to AT&T Stadium to host the Seattle Seahawks, who are coming off a 42-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Century Link Field, on Sunday, December 24 at 1:25 pm PT.

It’s now or never for Raiders as Cowboys come to Oaktown for primetime battle in Week 15

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Photo credit: @RAIDERS

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — The Oakland Raiders will host the Dallas Cowboys in a primetime game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Sunday night. This will mark the end of Oakland’s home schedule for 2017. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PST.

The game will be Oakland’s third appearance on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. They’ve played the Washington Redskins in Week 3 and the Miami Dolphins in Week 9.

For those who are interested, the Raiders are 1-1 on Sunday Night Football so far this season.

A loss to the Cowboys would officially eliminate the Raiders (6-7) from any postseason consideration, which was not what Oakland was hoping for coming into this season after making the playoffs for the first time since 2002 last season with a 12-4 record.

In Week 14, the Raiders fell flat on their faces losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-15, at Arrowhead Stadium.

Starting quarterback Derek Carr was mediocre at best, throwing for 211 yards on 24-of-41 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions for a 60.1 quarterback rating. The Raiders offense was stuck in the mud for most of the game as Kansas City’s 30th ranked defense held Oakland scoreless through three quarters, while limiting the Silver and Black to just 268 yards of total offense.

On Oakland’s first five possessions of the game, the Silver and Black punted the football four times and Carr threw one interception. Starting running back Marshawn Lynch led the team in rushing, registering seven carries for 61 yards and one touchdown. Lynch rumbled for a 22-yard touchdown with 8:51 left in the game to break the scoring seal for Oakland, who were already trailing 26-0 at this point.

Shockingly, the Raiders ran the football just 11 times against Kansas City, who are terrible in stopping the run. Teams are averaging 124.8 rushing yards against the Chiefs this season.

Tight end Jared Cook was Oakland’s top receiver, leading the team with 75 yards on five receptions and one touchdown. Wide receiver Michael Crabtree had a team-leading seven receptions for 60 yards.

The Raiders’ defensive unit recorded three sacks for the second straight week, two registered by outside linebacker Bruce Irvin. In Oakland’s past two games, Irvin has recorded an NFL-high five sacks during that span and is second on the team behind defensive end Khalil Mack (8.5) with 7.5 sacks. Mack and middle linebacker NaVorro Bowman each recorded a sack.

Bowman also led the team in total tackles (11) and had one pass defensed, while safety Karl Joseph recorded his first interception of the season–just Oakland’s second interception of the season; Bowman has the other one–off Chiefs’ starting quarterback Alex Smith.

Dallas (7-6) defeated the New York Giants, 30-10, at MetLife Stadium in Week 14. Starting quarterback Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 332 yards on 20-of-30 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 137.1 quarterback rating.

Entering Sunday night’s game at Oakland, Dallas will have their first regular season visit since 2005. Prescott has thrown for 2,752 yards with 21 touchdowns and just nine interceptions for a 91.6 quarterback rating.

The second-year quarterback is on pace for his second-straight 3,000-plus yard passing season.

Wide receiver Dez Bryant is Prescott’s top receiver and could feast on Oakland’s weak secondary this week. Bryant leads Dallas in receptions (61), receiving yards (712) and receiving touchdowns (six). 10-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten remains a red zone threat, ranking second on the team with five receiving touchdowns for 457 yards on 52 receptions.

With stud running back Ezekiel Elliott serving a six-game suspension, the Cowboys are powered by backup running back Alfred Morris. The sixth-year pro has racked up 485 yards on 97 carries and one touchdown.

Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence is the big star of the defense, leads the Cowboys with 13.5 sacks this season. Lawrence has the ability to quickly get to the quarterback and with Oakland’s once stout offensive line giving up more sacks this season with 17 (after surrendering just 16 sacks all of last season), Carr must be on high alert for No. 90 on Sunday.

Defensive tackle David Irving is second on the team with 7.0 sacks this season, while safety Jeff Heath leads the Cowboys with 52 tackles. Eighth-year middle linebacker Sean Lee is second behind Heath with 51 tackles. Heath also leads the team with three interceptions.

Following Sunday’s game, Oakland will travel east for a Christmas Eve against the Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday. Philadelphia (11-2) has clinched the NFC East Division and are looking to lock down the NFC’s top seed, but will have to do it without franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.

Wentz tore his ACL in Philadelphia’s 43-35 victory against the Rams in Los Angeles in Week 14 while diving into the end zone on a hit from Rams’ linebacker Mark Barron.

49ers preview report: 0-16 could be on the horizon for listless 49ers

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AP FILE – In this Oct. 22, 2017, file photo, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks at a news conference after a 40-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in an NFL football game, in Santa Clara, Calif. The 49ers are still searching for their first wiin under coach Shanahan. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA–Earlier in the season, the 49ers appeared to be competitive and stood a chance to win more of those games than previously expected.

Lately, however, they have looked like a team that does not have a clue on what it takes to win in the NFL, particularly in a pathetic performance last Sunday in a 40-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Now they face a Philadelphia Eagles team that is now 6-1 after a dominant performance Monday night against Washington.

At this point, it does not appear that there is any way that the 49ers can beat Philadelphia. The 49ers were gashed in the running game last Sunday and could not defend the pass, either, which does not bode very well against a quarterback like Carson Wentz, who enters Sunday having thrown the most touchdown passes in the NFL this season.

On offense, it was even worse, as even with a new starting quarterback in C.J Beathard, the 49ers failed to generate anything resembling momentum. Head coach Kyle Shanahan even said that there was nothing positive to take from the beating that they took from the Cowboys.

The only thing he did not say was, “We have not shown we can play on the road or in front of our own crowd, so we would like to have a neutral site,” as the late Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay once said.

The Cleveland Browns are not on the schedule this year, so when looking at the remaining opponents in 2017, there are none that the 49ers are favored to win the game. In years past, the Jacksonville Jaguars was a very winnable game for them, but Jacksonville is much improved, so the winnability of that contest goes completely out the window.

As for the game that is coming up, there are notable 49er players who were held out of practice on Wednesday, such as tackle Trenton Brown, who suffered a concussion against Dallas and is undergoing concussion protocol. Fellow tackle Joe Staley, who has been the subject of trade rumors of late, also missed Wednesday’s practice while nursing a knee injury.

Meanwhile, linebacker Reuben Foster practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday after suffering a rib injury on Sunday, while receiver Marquise Goodwin and fullback Kyle Juszczyk are both nursing back ailments and were also limited in practice.

49ers Lay An Egg on Dwight Clark Day; Elliot runs all day for Cowboys in 40-10 crushing

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard (3) stands on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–In one of the most emotionally charged days in Levi’s Stadium history, Dwight Clark Day, the San Francisco 49ers were all but emotional as they came out completely flat in a 40-10 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys. A large drop off from the 1981 championship team that was in attendance for Clark’s special day, Sunday marked the worse loss given to the 49ers since September 27th, 2015 where Arizona routed them 47-7.

San Francisco was dominated from start to finish. Starting with fumbling a punt off of Dallas’ first drive. The Cowboys recovered it at the 49ers’ 20-yard line and put Ezekiel Elliot to work. Zeke carried the ball three straight times marching his way to the end zone for the first time on Sunday.

Zeke finished with a huge day for America’s team, with 219 all-purpose yards. He rushed the ball 26 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns and caught one pass on the flat and brought it 72 yards for his only receiving score of the day.

Dak Prescott also torched the Niners through the air, throwing for 234 yards on 25 attempts and three touchdowns. His main target, Dez Bryant caught seven passes for 63 yards and a score. He also found his tight end, Jason Witten in the end zone for a magnificent one-handed grab.

Kyle Shanahan described the action perfectly by stating that there was nothing positive from Sunday’s contest, as they were dominated in all three aspects of the game.

C.J. Beathard struggled in his first professional start, but most of it wasn’t entirely his fault as swiss cheese would’ve protected him more than the Niners offensive line. Beathard was nearly pressured every time he stepped back to pass, as he was hit six times with five of them ending in sacks and two with fumbles.

Through the air, Beathard threw 22-of-38 for 235 yards. He also scored the 49ers only touchdown of the day in garbage time, running it in from four-yards out.

The 49ers return to the road next week, as they face the Eagles which may be a welcoming site, as they haven’t won at Levi’s Stadium since the opener of the 2016 season.

49ers could be in for a long haul vs. Cowboys

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AP Photo File: San Francisco 49ers cornerback Rashard Robinson (33) breaks up a pass intended for Dallas Cowboys receiver Brice Butler (19) during a 2016 NFL week 4 regular season game, Sunday, October 2, 2016, in Santa Clara, Calif. The Cowboys defeated the 49ers, 24-17. (James D. Smith via AP)

By Jeremy Harness

The 49ers have, at the very least, been very competitive this season, and in fact, they have set a new NFL record for consecutive losses by three points or fewer.

Now that they have proven that they can compete, now the young 49ers need to learn how to win.

The team just got younger this past Sunday, as the 49ers scrapped the Brian Hoyer experiment and decided to go with rookie quarterback C.J Beathard, and the young signal-caller got the 49ers back in the game to the point that they had a chance to steal the game in the final minutes.

This week, however, the task for the first win of the year is expected to get even harder against a loaded Dallas Cowboys team that will be looking to get back into the picture in the NFC East.

For about a week, it appeared that the six-game suspension against Cowboys back Ezekiel Elliott in connection with a domestic violence case would be upheld.

Within the past few days, however, Elliott has gotten another reprieve, as an injunction was recently placed to allow Elliott to play in at least one more game, which means that the 49ers will see the star running back lining up against them on Sunday.

The 49ers rested offensive tackle Joe Staley, defensive end Elvis Dumervil as well as receiver Pierre Garcon on Wednesday, while fullback Kyle Juszczyk was held out of practice with his ongoing back issue. Meanwhile, defensive end Aaron Lynch’s calf injury prevented him from practicing at all.

Linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong suffered a shoulder injury in last Sunday’s loss at Washington but was able to practice in a limited capacity, as was fellow backer Reuben Foster, who is still recovering from a high ankle sprain he suffered in the first game of the season.

Both are expected to play this Sunday, but they had a bit of a scare on their hands earlier this week. Both men were out in downtown San Francisco late Monday night, and in the process, they barely avoided being held up in an armed robbery.

Neither man was harmed, but both players reportedly apologized to the team for potentially putting the team in a bad position.

Safety Eric Reid appears to be all the way back from his knee injury, as he was a full participant in practice on Wednesday after playing last Sunday.

Oakland Raiders preview: Raiders head to Dallas for preseason clash with Cowboys

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Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) talks with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16) after an NFL preseason football game in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer

OAKLAND — The Raiders travel to Dallas for their final preseason game this week when they take on the Cowboys on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 5:00 p.m. PT at AT&T Stadium. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2013, when both teams met each other in the preseason and on Thanksgiving Day in the regular season.

Both teams will meet each other again this season when Dallas comes to Oakland-Alameda Coliseum on Dec. 17 on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which will be one of the NFL’s most watched games in 2017.

Last week, the Raiders lost at home to the Los Angeles Rams 24-21 in Oakland’s first home game this preseason.

Quarterback Derek Carr completed 7-of-9 passes for 100 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while posting a quarterback rating of 113.0 in his first action in the 2017 preseason. The game also marked the first time that Carr played at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in an NFL game since breaking his leg on Christmas Eve against the Indianapolis Colts.

Carr looked good and showed no lingering affects from the season-ending injury that derailed the 2016 season for the Silver and Black, a season that saw Oakland finish 12-4 and reach the postseason for the first time since 2002.

Carr found wide receiver Michael Crabtree for a dazzling 13-yard touchdown pass where Crabtree shook the defender out of his cleats, and backup tight end Lee Smith hauled in a 19-yard touchdown down the middle of the field from Carr for the quarterback’s first touchdowns in the 2017 season.

Raiders running back and Oakland native Marshawn Lynch finished with 10 yards on two carries. Lynch made his home debut in front of Raider Nation and got the crowd on its feet with a “Beast Mode” like run for five yards on his first carry.

Defensively, Khalil Mack appeared to be in regular season form after recording four tackles (three solo) and a sack in his first action in the preseason, but Oakland’s defense overall still have some holes to fill, most notably at middle linebacker and in the secondary.

But the big story heading into Saturday night’s game in Dallas for Oakland is the return of the their left tackle Donald Penn to the team. Penn was seen on the practice field in Alameda on Wednesday after ending his 26-day holdout in search of a new contract.

According to NBC Sports Bay Area Raiders Insider Scott Bair, the two-time Pro Bowler ended his holdout and re-joined the club on “faith” and “believing the Raiders will work out a higher pay rate” once he returned.

To make room on the active roster for Penn, Oakland waived defensive end Jimmy Bean.

Penn allowed just one sack and 28 total quarterback pressures in 2016, ranking No. 6 among all NFL tackles according to Pro Football Focus. The 11-year veteran is in the final year of a two-year, $11.9 million contract and wanted money that would put him in the top-10 among highest paid left tackles in the game.

Penn is scheduled to make $5.8 million this season, which is pittance compared to other elite left tackles.

Typically in the third week of the preseason, teams will play their starters well into the second half hoping to build more chemistry as the regular season approaches and with Penn missing most of training camp, you’d expect to see him in the lineup Saturday with Carr and the rest of the first-team offense to play catch-up.

Dallas defeated Indianapolis 24-19 last week at AT&T Stadium.

Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott completed 7-of-8 passes for 106 yards, with a 32-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Dez Bryant down the left side line on the game’s opening drive. Bryant finished with two catches for 55 yards in one-half of action.

Star running back Ezekiel Elliott, who hasn’t played in the entire preseason for the Cowboys, is expected to get reps against Oakland according to Dallas head coach Jason Garrett via ESPN Dallas Cowboys reporter Todd Archer.

Elliot, the NFL’s rushing leader with 1,631 yards to go along with 15 touchdowns and a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie, was recently suspended by the NFL for six games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy following and has repealed the decision. The hearing is set for Tuesday, Aug. 29.

“I think the biggest thing is just having the mindset of preparing him for Week 1 of the season, and that’s the approach that we’ve taken,” Garrett said via Archer. “He’s got a number of more reps in training camp than he did last year. If you remember, he had the hamstring injury last year and ended up playing in the second-to-last preseason game and got eight, 10, 12 snaps in that ballgame, so that’s the approach that we’ve taken with him, and anything beyond that we’ll take as it comes.”

Both teams will have short turnarounds after Saturday night’s contest, with the Raiders set to play the Seattle Seahawks in Oakland on Thursday, Aug. 31, and the Cowboys traveling to Houston to take on the Texans the same day.

All teams must trim down their rosters from 90- to 53-man by Sept. 2, as mandated by the NFL.

 

 

 

 

Oakland heads East for date with Jets

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — For the second time this season, the Raiders will visit MetLife Stadium this time, will take on the New York Jets Sunday. Oakland lost to the New York Giants, 24-20 in Week 10. The Raiders are playing their fourth road game in five games and have won two of the last three against the Jets, the last being a 34-24 victory in September 2011.

Oakland (4-8) is coming off a close 31-24 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, delivering the kill shot to their playoff dreams.

Quarterback Matt McGloin played decent in his third-career start, finishing 18 of 30 for 255 yards passing, but throw a crucial interception in the end zone to Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr in the fourth quarter that iced the game of Dallas.

Second-year wide receiver Andre Holmes had a marvelous day filling in for the injured Denarius Moore. Holmes posted career-highs in catches (seven) and receiving yardage (136). Even though Holmes did have a breakout game, Holmes still runs questionable routes and misplayed a back-shoulder pass from McGloin.

Running back Rashad Jennings rushed for 35 yards on 17 carries, scoring two touchdowns. Darren McFadden (hamstring) played for the first time in four games, carrying the ball five times for 13 yards, before leaving the game with an ankle injury. McFadden never returned to the game.

New York (5-7) has lost four of their last five games, including last week’s 23-3 lost to their AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins.

Quarterback Geno Smith has come under fire in New York for his up-and-down play this season. Smith completed just 4 of 10 passes for 29 yards and interception before being replaced by Matt Simms. Smith is expected to start for the Jets.

Former New Orleans Saints running back Chris Ivory paced the Jets with 61 rushing yards on 21 carries.

Raiders Report: Raiders good enough to hang but can’t finish

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Cowboys Raiders Football

by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–The Raiders had a good start and were actually leading at the half 21-14 but the Cowboys kicked into gear and the Raiders weren’t able to stop them on the other side of the ball and the Raiders offense couldn’t get anything going in the second half. It was a tale of two halves in this one the Raiders looked pretty solid in the first half in fact one of the drives in the second quarter.

One of the Raiders scoring drives they basically held the ball for 12 minutes out of 15 minutes the entire second quarter. They didn’t even let Dallas get the ball but Dallas marched down the field really quickly at the end of the half to score a touchdown with ten seconds left from that point on Dallas seemed to get their second wind and the Cowboys dominated the rest of the way.

The Raiders has some great plays on special teams to start this one out with the return as the Raiders recovered a fumble on the opening kick off and returned it for a touchdown and that set the tone early on it kind of stunned the Cowboys more than anything and for the next quarter and a half the Raiders were really playing really well. When the Cowboys scored at the end of the first half it just kind of rolled into the second half. The Raiders defense wasn’t able to stop them and the Raiders know that the Cowboys have a pretty solid offense.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw for 220 yards, the Cowboys rushed for 140 yards and it was one of those situations where the Raiders defense wasn’t able to stop anybody and while Raider quarterback Matt McGloin looked pretty solid in the first half completing some really solid passes and making some plays here and there he just couldn’t do anything in the second half and McGloin just didn’t seem to be able to do anything in the second half.

So you look at McGloin’s stats and he was 18-30 for 255 yards with one interception and no touchdowns and it’s really tough to gage how he played in this one he really looked good in the first half and made some tough throws and in the second half he just wasn’t hitting any of those and it wasn’t just the receivers who were dropping passes though that did happen on occasion and he wasn’t as accurate in that second half and part of that were the adjustments on the part of Dallas.

Dallas is still a better team and the Raiders defense is okay this year but teams are starting to catch up and injuries are up and down with this team on offense and defense and their starting to take their toll and it was great that the Raiders were able to hand in this one especially on a short week on Thanksgiving day on the road but that’s a tough game to play. You kind of feel for the Raiders because that’s just a tough situation to be in and it’s unfortunate that they had to be the team that had to be the sacrificial lamb on Thanksgiving.

The simple fact is that you got to win those games and Dallas isn’t such a good team that the Raiders weren’t able to beat them and the Raiders certainly can hang with them the bottom line is they come away with a loss that just puts them further behind heading into next week’s game against the New York Jets and we’ll see how the Raiders can do in that one.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for Sportstalk Radio

Murray scores three touchdowns in win

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web1_Raiders-Cowboys-Footb_Lamb-1-

By Jeremy Kahn

After scoring on a fumble return on the opening kickoff, everything looked to be going the Oakland Raiders way.

Unfortunately, the game is four quarters and not first team to score points in the game and the game continued from that point.

DeMarco Murray ran for three touchdowns, and his backup running back Lance Dunbar ran for a career-high 82 yards, as the Dallas Cowboys overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the a Raiders 31-24 at AT&T Stadium.

Tony Romo overcame a virus to throw for 225 yards on a 23-for-32 day and a touchdown, as the Cowboys moved into first place in the NFC East.

The Raiders scored on the opening kickoff after rookie kickoff returner Terrance Williams, who replaced an injured Dwayne Harris fumbled the ball and rookie Greg Jennings picked up the ball and scored just 12 into the game.

Rashad Jennings carried the ball 17 times for just 35 yards, and Darren McFadden returned after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury and carried the ball five times for 13 yards.

Rookie Matt McGloin started for the third consecutive week, and went 18-for-30 for 255 yards and finished off five consecutive third down drives on two scoring drives for the Raiders.

Former Cowboys receiver Andre Holmes hauled in seven catches for a career-high 136 yards, breaking his previous high of 33 yards.

Murray tied up the game in the final minute of the first quarter, as he scored from two yards out.

Jennings then scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, the second coming in the final two minutes of the half.

Murray got the Cowboys within seven points with just 10 seconds remaining before the end of the half, as he scored on a four-yard run.

Romo connected with Dez Bryant for a four-yard touchdown pass to tie up the game in the third quarter.

Murray scored his third and final touchdown of the day on a seven-yard run just 40 seconds into the final quarter to give the Cowboys the lead for good.

Dan Bailey closed out the scoring for the Cowboys, as he hit a 19-yard field goal with just 1:56 remaining in the game.

Sebastian Janikowski got the Raiders within seven points, as he hit a 45-yarder with 35 seconds remaining.

Janikowski’s onside kick was recovered by the Cowboys and Romo kneeled for the final play, as the Cowboys comeback was complete.

Raiders report: Cowboys offense good but not balanced

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by David Zizmor
ALAMEDA–It’s going to be additionally challenging for Oakland on Thursday it’s Thanksgiving day it’s a whole host of issues here with this game if you look at the history of NFL football on Thanksgiving the home team has won on Thanksgiving and those games are held traditionally in Dallas and Detroit. Detroit has a nine game losing streak on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys for the time being have been pretty good at home. The Raiders have a tall order for them, what they do have going for them is the fact that Dallas is the mediocre team.
If you look at the standings Dallas is in the running in the NFC East their a shade behind the Philadelphia Eagles in that race and the Cowboys are certainly in the playoff run but if you pay attention to the NFC East you know that even though Dallas and Philadelphia are tied at 6-5 and Dallas is not a very good team their good their just an up and down squad. Dallas has a good offense but a really bad defense and to be honest their offense while it’s good and has some excellent players, Tony Romo is an excellent quarterback for Dallas and Dez Bryant has been a great wide receiver.
The simple fact remains that this is not a balanced offense the running game is mediocre and they are a very inconsistent team. Part of that is because Romo tends to will them under pressure late in the games we’ve seen that in his playoff performances and we’ve seen that in various games just this season where he’s had trouble in the fourth quarter. The other thing is they don’t have too many big time performers beyond Romo and Bryant. Their looking for supporting players and their just not that good.
The only reason their 6-5 is because their in one of the weakest divisions in all of football and they’ve been able to feast on other teams in their division that are not very good in their own right. The Raiders go into this one as underdogs but Dallas is not very good so the Raiders at least have a chance. This isn’t going to be a super lopsided affair where Dallas just blows them out. The Raiders can make some noise in this one. This Thanksgiving your going to be watching football one way or another so definitely watch this one this will be an interesting one.
The Raiders can do a little damage and hopefully come out and make you enjoy turkey day and not depress you.
David Zizmor covers the NFL for Sportstalk Radio