The Oakland Raiders went into their Week 16 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers extremely short-handed but were still able to come away with a 24-17 victory to move to 7-8 on the season and keep their postseason hopes alive.
The offense, in particular, was without key pieces in Trent Brown, Josh Jacobs and Richie Incognito, forcing other players to have to step up.
They did welcome back the return of rookie wide receiver Hunter Renfrow though, and he had a career day after missing the last three games with a rib and lung injury.
He did not waste any time making his presence felt, catching a slant from Derek Carr on the Raiders’ opening drive and taking it for a 56-yard touchdown, the third of his young career. Renfrow also had a number of key third-down catches, earning his first-career 100-yard receiving game with seven catches for 107 yards.
Speaking of Carr, he had one of his most efficient games of the season by completing 26-of-30 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown. He also added a touchdown on the ground just before the end of the first half. Most importantly, Carr played mistake-free football and made every throw he needed to keep his team in the lead for the majority of the game.
Raiders running back DeAndre Washington had a solid day filling in for Jacobs. He carried the ball 23 times for 85 yards and a touchdown, also adding two receptions for 21 yards.
A ton of credit also goes to the Raiders defense, who got pressure on Chargers quarterback Phillips Rivers for the second time this season. They didn’t come up with any turnovers this time around, but the Chargers were forced to punt on each of their first five drives to begin the game.
The win ensured that the Raiders will play a meaningful game in Week 17. They will need a win over the Denver Broncos in addition to the Baltimore Ravens beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Houston Texans beating the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts beating the Jacksonville Jaguars to earn the six-seed in the AFC.
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