Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, Dylan Laube returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and Jeremy Chinn intercepted Geno Smith in the end zone with 14 seconds left as the Las Vegas Raiders beat the New York Jets 38-33 on Sunday, November 1, at MetLife Stadium.
Las Vegas improves to 4-4 and snaps a four-game losing streak after trailing by nine at halftime. New York falls to 2-6 and has lost three straight despite scoring on each of its first six possessions.
Jets score every time, Laube answers
The Jets moved the ball at will in the first half. Jason Sanders kicked a 21-yard field goal on their opening drive, and after Cousins hit Brock Bowers for a 12-yard touchdown on third-and-goal, Sanders added a 36-yarder. Smith then threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams for a 13-7 lead.
Las Vegas took the lead back 12 seconds later. Laube fielded the kickoff at the 5 and went 95 yards for a touchdown, the first kickoff return touchdown in the league this season and the first of his career. The Jets answered with an eight-play, 65-yard drive, and Smith threw an over-the-shoulder fade to Adonai Mitchell for a 12-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1.
New York then stopped Connor Heyward on a fourth-and-1 direct snap near midfield, and Sanders made a 39-yard field goal with 9 seconds left for a 23-14 halftime lead. They were the Jets’ first points of the season in the final two minutes of a first half. Under Glenn, they had been outscored 107-6 in that stretch over two seasons.
Cousins leads the comeback
Cousins opened the second half with a 10-play, 65-yard drive and found Bowers again from 2 yards out. Braelon Allen answered with a 21-yard touchdown run for a 30-21 Jets lead, but Las Vegas went 65 yards in 10 plays and Cousins pushed in from the 1 to make it 30-28. He celebrated by crouching near the sideline and flapping his elbow like a chicken wing. “I call that my wellness celebration,” the 38-year-old said, a nod to the team’s training staff. Bowers, he said, had reminded him to do it.
The Jets’ scoring streak ended with a three-and-out late in the third quarter. Las Vegas took over at its own 16, and early in the fourth Cousins threw a screen to Ashton Jeanty, who stumbled, kept his balance and raced 45 yards to the Jets 13. Five plays later, Cousins threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Nailor on third-and-goal for a 35-30 lead with 11:33 left.
Sanders cut it to 35-33 with a 31-yard field goal with 4:31 to play. The Raiders then ran 4:04 off the clock, and Matt Gay hit a 53-yarder with 27 seconds left. The Jets got to the Las Vegas 35 on a 15-yard Garrett Wilson catch and a roughing penalty on Chinn, but Smith’s throw to the end zone for Wilson was picked off by Chinn, who tapped both feet in bounds.
The numbers
- Kirk Cousins: 19 of 26 for 247 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, plus a rushing touchdown.
- Brock Bowers: seven catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Jeanty had three catches for 64 yards but just two carries for 9 yards in a reduced role.
- Mike Washington Jr.: 25 carries for 83 yards for the rookie.
- Raiders defense and special teams: Laube’s 95-yard return, Chinn’s interception and 10 tackles, and a sack each from Maxx Crosby and Tim Keenan III. Nakobe Dean had 12 tackles.
- Geno Smith: 20 of 32 for 290 yards, two touchdowns and the late interception; sacked twice.
- Jets playmakers: Mitchell had seven catches for 142 yards and a touchdown, Wilson six for 83, and Allen 21 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown.
- Jason Sanders: 4 of 4 on field goals (21, 36, 39 and 31 yards), 15 points in all.
New York outgained Las Vegas 439-333 and ran for 166 yards at 6.1 a carry, but it went 2 for 6 in the red zone and settled for field goals. The Raiders were 4 for 4 in the red zone and 7 for 11 on third down, and they did not turn the ball over.
What it means
“To be .500 in November now and playing meaningful football is important,” Cousins said. Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said Jeanty, who was limited on the ground, is “going to be a huge part of our run game going forward.” Las Vegas lost cornerback Darien Porter to a groin injury on its first defensive play.
For the Jets, the red-zone failures and a kickoff return touchdown were the difference. “It’s an understatement to say that we’re all disappointed in the way this one ended,” Glenn said. We looked at what went wrong for Aaron Glenn’s team in a separate piece.
What comes next
Las Vegas visits the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday. New York plays at the Kansas City Chiefs.
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