NFL News & Analysis

NFL Week 9 PFF ReFocused: Oakland Raiders 31, Detroit Lions 24

Derek Carr and Josh Jacobs led the Oakland Raiders to a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, improving to 4-4 on the season as a result.

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PFF's ReFocused series features immediate takeaways from the two analysts who graded the game live. The two offer a detailed breakdown of the game's most notable performances before the grades and advanced stats are reviewed and finalized by Senior Analysts.

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Final Score

Oakland Raiders 31, Detroit Lions 24

Oakland Raiders

Arden Key was giving the Lions' interior offensive line fits all game, using his speed and quickness to get to the passer. Maurice Hurst also gave the interior offensive linemen trouble protecting Matthew Stafford.

Daryl Worley made one of the biggest plays of the game, intercepting Stafford on a go route targeted to Kenny Golladay. The Raiders cornerback ran step for step with Golladay down the field, found the ball and reached up to snag the pick with one hand to halt the Lions' drive and change the momentum of the game.

Nobody in the middle of the Raiders' offensive line could handle Damon Harrison in this game, especially against the run. He was constantly clogging lanes, throwing blockers aside and making plays in the run game. Harrison had multiple solo stops and was constantly forcing runs to bounce outside because he had the middle locked down.

It's been an up-and-down year for cornerback Darius Slay, but this was one of the up games. He was so locked in in coverage that the Raiders didn't look his way a single time. He chipped in with a tackle in the second quarter, but otherwise, he just stayed tight in coverage and prevented even a target coming his way.

Detroit Lions

Marvin Jones got off to a hot start in the game, hauling in multiple big catches to get the Lions' offense going. However, as the game went on, the Raiders' defense seemed locked him down. Jones struggled to get anything going his way later in the game.

TJ Hockenson finally re-emerged as a favorite target of Matthew Stafford in this game. He did a lot of his damage after the catch, as he took a flat route for an explosive gain and burst through the secondary for another explosive play on a screen pass.

While Josh Jacobs had another great day, it was Derek Carr that led the Raiders to victory. With multiple big-time throws and no turnover-worthy plays, Carr pushed the ball downfield throughout the game. He was fantastic on the game-winning drive, throwing a dime to Jalen Richard to start it off and finishing with a great throw on a scramble play for the winning touchdowns.

It wasn't a huge day statistically for Hunter Renfrow, but it might have been his best game of the season. He seemed to get open on every important throw that Carr needed to make and made the catches despite whatever the coverage. He had multiple contested catches, some great YAC plays and finally, a perfect toe-tap game-winning touchdown reception.

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