A day after the passing of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, the Raiders defeated the Texans 25-20 in an emotional game, pushing their record to 3-2 while the Texans fell to 3-2 as well.
Despite being dominated statistically, the Raiders held on for the victory. The Texans outgained the Raiders by almost 200 yards (473 to 278) and the Raiders also had almost twice as many penalties, getting flagged 11 times for 89 yards (in what has become an Oakland trademark).
The strength of Sebastian Janikowski’s leg was enough to secure the victory, as he hit three field goals from 50 yards or more, and a fourth from 42 yards. The Raiders, who took the top ranked rushing offense into the game with an average of 178 yards per game, managed only 94 yards on the ground.
The Texans put up huge numbers, with Matt Schaub throwing for 416 yards on 24 of 51 passing, with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Arian Foster had 68 yards rushing and 116 yards receiving while tight end Joel Dreesen took up the slack for Andre Johnson, who was out with a hamstring injury. Dreesen, who only had 44 yards receiving all year going into today’s game, caught 5 balls for 112 yards, including a 56 yard TD.
The Raiders honored Al Davis with a sticker on their helmets and the every game this weekend had a moment of silence in memory of Davis before kickoff. Davis, who ran the Raiders for 40 years, was famous for the phrase “Just win, baby,” and the Raiders victory was the most appropriate honor he could have received this weekend.
