Las Vegas Raiders upset the odds and beat Cowboys on Thanksgiving
The Las Vegas Raiders pulled off a huge upset on Thanksgiving and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 36-33 overtime victory over the struggling Dallas Cowboys.
It was the Raiders' first "Turkey Day" victory since 1968.
Five field goals for Carlson
Daniel Carlson's fifth field goal of the game, a 29-yarder, gave the "Sin City" Raiders the win.
In the first quarter, the Raiders opened the scoring on their first offensive series with a spectacular bomb from Derek Carr to DeSean Jackson, who scored for the first time this year, reminding us of his speed that catapulted him to stardom with the Philadelphia Eagles when he escaped 56 yards to the end zone.
The Cowboys responded immediately and Dak Prescott found Sean McKeon for the rookie tight end to score the first touchdown of his career on a 10-yard pass, although Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point.
Before the end of the first 15 minutes, Josh Jacobs scored for Las Vegas on a 1-yard carry to increase the lead 14-6.
Carlson kicked his first field goal of the game in the second quarter on a successful 22-yard attempt.
With just 29 seconds left before halftime, Ezekiel Elliott cut the deficit to four points on a one-yard touchdown carry.
Two ejected in the game
The third quarter began with a pair of ejections, when rookies Kelvin Joseph of Dallas and Roderic Teamer of Las Vegas came to blows on a punt, sparking a pitched battle that was stopped before it escalated by officials
After the brawl, the Raiders increased their lead with an unexpected player, reserve quarterback Marcus Mariota came in to carry the ball from the 3-yard line and score a touchdown.
On the ensuing kickoff the Cowboys made the score 24-19 when Tony Pollard took the kick and spectacularly returned it 100 yards to the other side of the field, the two-point conversion was missed.
Carlson hit a 46-yarder to increase the visitors' lead to eight points before the final 15 minutes of regular time began.
Crazy 4th Period
In the fourth period, after Zuerlein and Carlson exchanged field goals (of 29 and 30 yards), Dak Prescott and Dalton Schultz tied the score for the first time with first a 32-yard pass then the conversion after the pass to the tight end.
With 1:57 minutes to play, Carlson gave the black and silver the lead back with the longest field goal of his career (56 yards), but with 24 seconds left, "Legatron" sent the game into overtime with his successful 45-yard attempt.
In overtime, Dallas had the ball first but was forced to punt, and the Raiders advanced the ball to win the game with Carlson's aforementioned field goal.
Dallas' crisis is worsening as they have lost two in a row and three of the last four, all three losses to AFC West opponents (Broncos, Chiefs and Raiders).
All this has happened since the return of Dak Prescott from injury.
Player of the game was Derek Carr completing 24 of 39 passes for 373 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
What's next?
The Raiders (6-5) will host Washington Football Team next Sunday, December 5 in their next matchup.
The Cowboys (7-4) will visit the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, December 2.
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