Raiders coach Tom Cable considers himself in the minority when it
comes to believing his team is headed in the right direction. On
Sunday, he no doubt gained a few more believers.
The Raiders scored 10 points in the final 33 seconds to turn what
looked like a sure loss into an improbable 20-17 upset over the
Cincinnati Bengals before a sparse but delighted crowd at the Oakland
Coliseum.
"I'm the one guy in the universe that thinks we are headed in the
right direction," Cable said. "So, (we took) just kind of a step in
the right direction."
They did so thanks to numerous missteps by a Bengals team that gained
national attention with a combined four victories over the Pittsburgh
Steelers and Baltimore Ravens — the AFC Championship Game participants
10 months ago — en route to a 7-2 start.
But the Bengals fumbled three times, committed eight penalties and
allowed the Raiders to keep alive their game-tying drive by failing to
stop a fourth-and-10 with 59 seconds left. Quarterback Bruce
Gradkowski, starting in place of JaMarcus Russell for the first time
this season, connected with wide receiver Chaz Schilens for a 16-yard
completion.
Two plays later, Gradkowski looked off running back Darren McFadden in
the right flat, turned left and fired a pass toward rookie receiver
Louis Murphy as he neared the goal line.
Murphy broke off his route and, after securing the ball, turned toward
the goal line and lunged across with cornerback Morgan Trent draped on
his back. An officials' review upheld the touchdown ruling and sent
the Raiders sideline and fans into full celebratory mode.
"He just made a great play and reached that ball into the end zone,"
Gradkowski said of Murphy. "I told him that I was going to give him
(grief) if he didn't get in the end zone on that. I was going to stay
on him."
On the ensuing kick, rookie Brandon Myers stripped Andre Caldwell of
the ball and pounced on it at the Bengals 17-yard line. Sebastian
Janikowski kicked a tiebreaking, 33-yard field goal four plays later.
"Coach (Marvin) Lewis talks about it all the time, stealing games on
the road, beating people you shouldn't beat. And the good teams beat
the teams they should," Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco said. "And
this is one of those teams, no disrespect to them, but this was a game
we should have won. We had ample times to win the game, but we
didn't."
The Raiders won the kind of game they have lost so often during the
past six-plus seasons. They fell behind 14-0 midway through the second
quarter and were outgained in yards 348-275. Yet, Gradkowski made the
most of his limited time on the field, and the Bengals squandered
several chances to put the game out of reach.
Gradkowski directed four scoring drives as the Raiders matched their
highest-scoring output this season.
"Oh, my goodness," Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. "When we
saw them scoring and moving the ball, we were like, 'Look, this is how
games should be,' because the defense isn't going to be perfect.
There's going to be times when you give up two touchdowns or
something, but you know that the offense is going to have your back,
that type of thing. And they showed that."
The Raiders also showed once again that they are capable of beating
the league's top teams. Earlier this season, they upset the
Philadelphia Eagles.
The trick now, Cable and numerous players said, is following up this
victory with another win.
"In the past, something's gone wrong here or there at the end, and we
don't finish it like we should," left guard Robert Gallery said. "We
needed somebody to make a play, and they made it on special teams and
put us in a position to win. Everything just clicked. When we do that
consistently, we're going to be a real good team."
Ochocinco said the Raiders are far better than their 3-7 record.
"We played a great Raider team, despite their record," Ochocinco said.
"We saw it on film all week, especially defensively, the front seven,
front four, whatever you want to call it, they're really good. They
get a lot of push, cause a lot of havoc. Other than that, man, they
played really well on both sides of the ball."
The Raiders are four games behind the division-leading San Diego
Chargers and a long shot at a wild-card berth. Even so, Cable said he
sees the Raiders emerging from their six-year-plus funk.
"There's some energy and some belief that we still have something to
play for," Cable said. "We're still playing for each other, we're
still trying to straighten out this football team in its path and its
return to greatness. It's not been easy. It's been very difficult,
quite honestly, but days like this make you feel like you're making
strides that way."
