The Black Hole is back, baby.
Seth Roberts' game-winning overtime catch-and-run topped Week 8's Top "Performance Moments of the Week", presented by Bridgestone.
In a battle between pirate-themed teams, neither the Raiders nor the Buccaneers could steal a win from the other. Both squads made too many mistakes -- a league-record 23 penalties from Oakland, a missed extra point from Tampa Bay's Roberto Aguayo -- to settle this one in regulation. Four drives into overtime, it appeared that we might be seeing our second tie of the day and our third in two weeks! Thankfully, Roberts and the Raiders ran away with the loot.
With less than two minutes to go in OT, the Raiders were faced with a fourth-and-3 from the Tampa 41. Sebastian Janikowski had just missed two 50-plus-yard field goals, so a third attempt for the veteran kicker was out of the cards. Jack Del Rio instead trusted his quarterback, who was having a career day to the tune of 513 passing yards, to extend the drive and at the very least get Oakland into field-goal range. Wouldn't you know it, Black Jack worked his magic once again.
With the crowd roaring, Derek Carr took the snap in shotgun with five wide receivers spread across the line of scrimmage. Split between Michael Crabtree and tight end Clive Walford on the left, Roberts ran a deep slant inside on Bucs cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah. Carr found Roberts with a bullet right in the middle of the field for the first down, but Roberts wanted more.
Bucs safety Bradley McDougald crashed down to attempt to jar the ball loose, but instead collided with Adjei-Barimah. With both Tampa defenders on the ground and daylight ahead, Roberts sprinted to the end zone with no Buccaneer in sight. Game, set, match. The Raiders left Florida with a 6-2 mark, a share of the AFC West lead and a perfect record on the road.
Also on the countdown: Earl Thomas shows the zebras some love after a scoop-and-score. ... Rob Gronkowski. 69 scores. Magic. ... Trevor Davis doesn't waste any time. One career catch, one career TD.
