Packers secure seventh straight playoff berth, then beat Raiders

Midway through the fourth quarter with the Packers up 27-20, the Raiders offense was stopped at their own 14-yard-line and forced to punt. I’m sick of talking of the negativity that goes on here. It was a clear indication of which was the playoff team and which was the former doormat on its way up. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but whenever you can come out here on somebody’s home turf and get a win, it’s a good feeling”.

Many observers (myself included) attributed the re-commitment to the running game in Week 14 as a direct result of Mike McCarthy taking back the play-calling.

“We won the game”, McCarthy said. “That’s kind of the expectation here, is to get into the postseason”.

Lacy (11 carries for 23 yards) and James Starks combined for 84 yards rushing on 20 carries. “It’s another tough road game in a tough environment and that’s what we’ll stay focused on”. The Raiders marched 79 yards to score on a 19-yard pass to Amari Cooper from Carr with 20 seconds left to play in the first half.

And the loss guarantees that once again, for the 13th straight season, the Raiders will not have a winning record.

“After the coach and I had that talk, we left everything in that room, and it was pretty much like a fresh start, “Lacy said. Sometimes we joke around that there really is no offseason because everyone’s ultimate goal is to go to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl”. That’s always my goal, that will never change.

So when Carr threw the second of his two interceptions, it wasn’t as if Del Rio was looking for Matt McGloin to come to the rescue. “We got a big one next week, so we’re not really satisfied”, said safety Micha Hyde, who had an interception Sunday against Oakland. That put Green Bay ahead 24-20 with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter.

When asked what young players could stretch the field for the Packers, Woodson referenced second-year pro Jeff Janis, though not by name. Rodgers’ top receiving target Randall Cobb caught eight passes for 81 yards, while Starks came out of the backfield to catch four passes including a TD catch.

For more on the Raiders, visit the Inside the Oakland Raiders blog at. But it didn’t exactly make Rodgers happy. He became the first rookie in Raiders history with at least 1,000 receiving yards and the first Raider, period, to crack the 1,000-yard mark since Randy Moss in 2005. That was the longest current drought in the NFL.

The rest of the accolades went to the Packers, who got 2 1/2 sacks from Julius Peppers to win their third straight game. That setup Jon Kuhn’s 5-yard touchdown giving the Packers a 7-0 lead.

Quarterback Derek Carr almost outplayed Rodgers, but his two first-half interceptions, one of which was taken for a touchdown, killed any argument that he was the better player. Four plays later, Carr found Cooper for a 19-yard touchdown to make it a one-point deficit at 14-13 going into halftime.

However, Aaron Rodgers with the ball in hand is not an overly comforting prospect, meaning the Raiders will have to put on an enormous defensive performance in the air and on the ground in today’s game if they are to gain a shock win. It was Rodgers, who played at nearby UC Berkeley, first time playing in Oakland. He nearly got a late interception of his friend only to see teammate David Amerson steal it away at the goal line.

“They’ve got one guy that’s supposed to be white lightning I hear”, Woodson said. “It doesn’t work around here I guess”. He finished with six catches for 120 yards and the first two-touchdown game of his National Football League career.

“My only thing is the guy waited two hours and 32 minutes to throw the flag after he heard the roar of the crowd or whatever it may be”, Jones said.

The Raiders couldn’t get much going on their next series. “It’s a insane game”.