Earlier this week, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie was speaking in glowing terms about the Oakland offense.
“Yeah, we’ve got some horses,” he told Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “If everybody does their job and we protect the ball we can score some points. And don’t forget Cordarrelle Patterson. We’ve got some weapons.”
McKenzie proved to be a prophet, as the Raiders exploded for a 45-20 victory over the New York Jets in Oakland’s home opener to improve to 2-0 this season.
Patterson, the wide receiver-kick returner acquired from the Vikings this offseason, was one of the Raiders stars Sunday. He carried the ball three times out of the backfield and exploded for a 43-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to help a productive and balanced Raiders assault that included three TD catches by Michael Crabtree, Marshawn Lynch’s first TD run as a Raider and Jalen Richard’s 52-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
Patterson also returned three kickoffs for 70 yards.
Quarterback Derk Carr also was terrific, completing 23-of-28 throws for 230 yards and three TDs without an interception.
The Raiders offense was wide open, with Patterson being used all over the field and Carr hitting Crabtree on a flea-flicker. It also showed some punch, with Lynch – who carried 12 times for 45 yards – running over Jets defenders.
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Meanwhile, the Oakland defense was strong. The Raiders had two takeaways on fumble recoveries and sacked Josh McCown four times, with Mario Edwards Jr. leading the way with two.
The Raiders will try to get to 3-0 this coming Sunday when they travel to play Washington in a nationally televised night game.
