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 The Packers (10-4) officially clinched a postseason spot midway
through the first quarter when Carolina defeated the New York Giants
with a last-second field goal. By defeating the Raiders, Green Bay
maintained a one-game lead over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC
North.
The Packers reached the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
"We're right where I want to be," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.
"We're right where we need to be. The style points you can flush
that. I'm sick and tired of talking about negativities. They belong
here. We've won 10 games. We lost three games on the last play of
the game, and Denver beat us."
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for only 204 yards and a touchdown,
and the Raiders outgained the Packers 372 yards to 293. But Packers
rookie cornerback Damarious Randall returned an interception 43
yards for a score, Mason Crosby kicked three field goals, and wide
receiver James Jones caught six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown.
"Everyone always tries to come with what happened last year,"
Packers offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga said. "This isn't last year.
This is a new year. This is a different team. It's about winning
games at the end of the day. We've been able to do that. I know
offensively there's a lot of stuff we need to clean up and we can do
better."
Green Bay defeated the Raiders (6-8) for the seventh straight time
and eliminated Oakland from playoff contention on a rainy day. For
the 13th consecutive season, the Raiders will finish without a
winning record or a playoff berth.
"It hurts," Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said. "It hurt my heart
to be honest because I know how much work I put into this, how much
work our team puts into this, our coaches. I know the sacrifice
during the week and even during the offseason."
Rodgers completed 22 of 39 passes and was intercepted once, late in
the fourth quarter. Packers outside linebacker Julius Peppers had 2
1/2 sacks, giving him 135 for his career.
Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper caught six passes for 120 yards
and a career-high two touchdowns. Cooper became the first rookie in
Raiders history with 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He also is
the first Raider since Randy Moss in 2005 to crack the 1,000-yard
receiving mark.
"I guess it's a good thing to do, but people go for 1,000 yards
every year," Cooper said. So it's not really a big thing.
The Packers extended their one-point halftime lead to 17-13 on
Crosby's 24-yard field goal with 10:18 left in the third quarter.
The Raiders answered with an eight-play, 81 touchdown drive, Carr
hitting Cooper on a 26-yard touchdown pass that gave Oakland a 20-17
lead with 6:48 left in the third.
Green Bay quickly got the lead back, marching 53 yards in three
plays as Rodgers threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jones, who played
for the Raiders last season. That put Green Bay ahead 24-20 with
5:46 remaining in the third quarter.
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"Last couple games we've had ugly weather and we've been able to
come out with some wins, so it's huge man," Jones said. "We're not
playing the best football. 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."
The Packers extended their lead to 27-20 when Crosby connected from
21 yards with 10:01 left to play, capping a 92-yard, 19-play drive.
Crosby's 33-yard field goal made it 30-20 with 4:25 left.
The Packers capitalized on a pair of Carr interceptions to build a
14-0 first-quarter lead.
Facing third-and-9 from the Raiders' 17, Carr tried to hit tight end
Clive Walford over the middle, but safety Micah Hyde sliced in front
to intercept. That set up fullback John Kuhn's 5-yard touchdown run
with 5:08 left in the first quarter.
On Oakland's next possession, Carr threw high and wide to wide
receiver Seth Roberts on first down. Carr's fastball went through
Roberts' hands to Randall, who caught it and ran untouched 43 yards
down the left sideline for a touchdown with 4:53 left in the
quarter.
"You can't dig yourself into a hole early like that," said Raiders
safety Charles Woodson, a former Packer. "We gave them 14 points
early on in the game."
The Raiders cut Green Bay's lead to 14-6 with a pair of Sebastian
Janikowski field goals. The Packers appeared ready to pad their lead
late in the half, but Raiders defensive end Benson Mayowa stripped
the ball from running back James Starks and recovered at the Oakland
21 with 1:22 left.
Carr marched the Raiders 79 yards in four plays for a touchdown,
hitting Cooper with a 19-yard scoring pass, cutting Green Bay's lead
to 14-13 with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
NOTES: Raiders starting DE Mario Edwards Jr. left the game with a
neck injury early in the first quarter and not return. ... Raiders
WR Seth Roberts left the game with an abdominal injury in the second
quarter and did not return. ... Packers backup LB Jayrone Elliott
left the game with a quad injury in the first half and did not
return. ... Packers starting LT David Bakhtiari left the game late
in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. ...
Packers starting CB Sam Shields (concussion) was inactive, and
Damarious Randall replaced him in the starting lineup.
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