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The Las Vegas Raiders shouldn’t be happy at all with their performance against the New York Jets but they were to pull off a shocking win. It looked like the game was over after they turned the ball over on downs but the defense was able to quickly stop the Jets’ offense and gave the team a chance to win.
After a couple of lackluster plays, quarterback Derek Carr hit Henry Ruggs for the go-ahead touchdown that left only five seconds left on the clock. It was a shocking end to a shocking game.
Ruggs was having a horrific game as he caused an interception off of a dropped pass and lost a fumble in the second half. He more than made up for his mistakes with the game-winning touchdown. The internet had a field day after Ruggs’ catch.
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Jon Gruden Praises Ruggs
Despite being the first wide receiver taken in the recent draft, Ruggs hasn’t been as impressive as the other guys taken in the first round. He’s flashed some big-play ability but hasn’t been consistent. Things were looking really bad for him for 90% of the Jets game. Lucky for him, people will only remember his epic game-winning catch.
Head coach Jon Gruden could’ve easily mitigated Ruggs’ role after the fumble but he still gave him a shot to win the game in the end.
“For him to win that game for us, it just says a lot about the football character he has and we have,” Gruden said after the game.
Ruggs is still very much a work in progress but there aren’t a lot of guys in the league who could do what he did at the end of Sunday’s game. Perhaps this is the point of the season where he can turn things around.
Darren Waller Talks Final Play
While Ruggs sealed the game for the Raiders, Darren Waller is the reason they were even in a position to win. He had the best game of his career with 13 catches, 200 yards and two touchdowns. He had a chance to breakdown the play where Ruggs scored.
“It didn’t even seem real,” Waller said after the game. “I didn’t even know what was happening, I just started sprinting to Henry.”
The Raiders have been in some wild games this season but this was the wildest of them all. The Jets are a winless team and Las Vegas was so close to being the only team to lose to them. It’s not a game that should’ve even been close, and the Raiders should keep the celebrating at a minimum because it was a very ugly win. That said, a win is a win and 7-5 is a lot better than 6-6. The AFC playoff race is tightening up and a loss this week may have ended the team’s playoff dreams. Ruggs and Carr deserve a lot of credit for saving the season.
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