It was only Week 4. But as Derek Carr and the Raiders’ offense took the field at the Coliseum late in the fourth quarter Sunday, trailing by eight points, they seemed to carry with them the weight of a season.
With 30 seconds left, Carr, who’d been booed off the field by fans earlier in the game, found tight end Jared Cook at the edge of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. Carr then lofted a fade to Jordy Nelson, who fought off his defender for the two-point conversion.
It forced overtime, and the Raiders, staring at the possibility of an 0-4 start, instead salvaged a 45-42 win over the Browns, their first of the second Jon Gruden era.