Raiders RB Darren McFadden leads the NFL in rushing through three games.
TO THE HOUSE!: RB Darren McFadden scored on an NFL-career long 70-yard run in the second quarter of the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. McFadden leads the NFL in rushing with 393 yards after rushing for a career-high 171 yards against the Jets. He also scored on a 2-yard run for the first points on the day. McFadden's previous long was a 57-yarder on October 24, 2010 against the Broncos in Denver and he posted his most rushing yards in a single game (165) to date during that contest as well.
IN A RUSH: The Oakland Raiders rushed for a season-high 234 yards during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum, paced by RB Darren McFadden's career-high 171 yards and career-long 70-yard run. The yardage versus the Jets marked the third straight game that the Raiders have rushed for at least 130 yards so far this year and also marked the sixth time in the past two years that the Silver and Black have rushed for more than 200 yards in a game. The Raiders, who finished the 2010 season ranked second in the NFL in rushing, had 100 yard rushing performances 13 times last year, including a season-high 328 yards on October 24, 2010 versus the Broncos in Denver. McFadden produced 1,157 rushing yards in 2010, becoming the first Raider running back since 2007 to rush for more than 1,000 yards. His rushing total in 2010 was the fifth highest in Raiders history, just seven yards short of fourth place on the franchise single season rushing list.
GROUND WORK: The Raiders have totaled 11 touchdowns this season with eight of those scores coming on the ground. The team total for rushing touchdowns is twice as many as any other NFL team. RB Darren McFadden leads the team with three rushing touchdowns, while RB Michael Bush and QB Jason Campbell have scored twice on the ground. WR Denarius Moore added a rushing touchdown against the New York Jets on September 25.
TWO BEST RUSHING DAYS: RB Darren McFadden has posted the top two single-game rushing performances in the NFL so far this season. McFadden recorded 150 yards on the ground in the season opener at Denver on September 12 and topped his own NFL-high with 171 yards against the New York Jets in the Raiders home opener on September 25. McFadden, who recorded six 100-yard rushing performances last season, has now recorded nine career games with at least 100 yards rushing.
RARE COMPANY AT 150/160: With Darren McFadden's 171-yard rushing performance against the New York Jets on September 25, the fourth-year player became just the third running back in Raiders history to rush for more than 150 yards in a game on four different occasions. Former Raiders Clem Daniels and Marcus Allen also rushed for 150 or more yards four times during their respective careers with the Silver and Black. McFadden also joined Daniels as the only Raiders to have posted three single-game rushing performances of 160 or more yards.
TAIWAN IN OAKLAND: Rookie RB Taiwan Jones returned a kickoff for the first time in his pro career, bringing back the opening kickoff 24 yards to get the Raiders started during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. Jones also contributed in kick coverage, recovering a muffed kickoff in the third quarter at the Jets 13, leading to the Silver and Black's second touchdown in a span of 42 seconds to go ahead 31-17.
THE BOSS: TE Kevin Boss, who signed with the Raiders as a free agent this year, saw his first action as a Raider during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. He caught two passes for 36 yards including a 28-yarder on the opening series to set up a touchdown. Boss also made several key blocks as the Raiders rushed for 234 yards.* *
FIRST IN FIRST: The Oakland Raiders scored their first points in the first quarter this year during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum, going 76 yards in five plays, ending with a 2-yard Darren McFadden run in the game-opening drive.* *
PICK FOR BRANCH: S Tyvon Branch recorded his first interception of the 2011 season, making the play in the end zone to thwart a scoring opportunity in the first quarter during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum.* *
SCORE, SECONDS LATER, SCORE AGAIN!: The Oakland Raiders scored twice in a span of 42 seconds late in the third quarter and in the opening moments of the fourth quarter during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. WR Denarius Moore went 23 yards on a reverse to culminate a 4-play, 63-yard drive with 40 second remaining in the third quarter to go up 24-17. That was followed by a recovery of a fumble on the ensuing kickoff by another rookie, RB Taiwan Jones deep in Jets territory, evoking memories of the famed "Heidi Game" between the two teams on November 17, 1968. RB Michael Bush capped a 2-play, 13-yard drive with a 1-yard run two seconds into the fourth quarter, giving the Silver and Black a 31-17 lead.
GATHERING MOSS: DE Jarvis Moss was credited with two sacks against the New York Jets on September 25 at O.co Coliseum, matching his career high. Moss, who also recorded two sacks in a game as a member of the Denver Broncos in 2008. Since joining the Raiders near the end of the 2010 season, three of his 6.5 career sacks have come with the Silver and Black. The Raiders ranked tied for second in the NFL IN sacks last year with 47.
MORE SACKS: In addition to DE Jarvis Moss' sacks against the New York Jets on September 25 at O.co Coliseum, LB Kamerion Wimbley was also credited with a sack. DTs Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly were credited with half-sacks against the Jets. Wimbley led the Raiders in sacks last year with nine while the Raiders ranked tied for second in the NFL IN sacks last year with 47.
DOZEN STOPS FOR ROLANDO: For the second straight week, LB Rolando McClain eclipsed his previous career single-game high for tackles. Against the New York Jets on September 25 at O.co Coliseum, McClain totaled 12 tackles, including seven solo stops, to best his previous personal best of 10 total tackles set against the Bills at Buffalo during the Week 2 contest on September 18.
FINALLY!: K Sebastian Janikowski's streak of consecutive kickoffs without a return ended at 13 during the September 25 contest versus the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. Janikowski's kickoff of the third quarter kickoff was finally returned, ending 10 quarters of opponents not being able to bring back kickoffs versus the Raiders. Janikowski kicked off five times in Week 1 versus the Broncos in Denver and six times in Week 2 against the Bills in Buffalo—with all landing deep in the end zone or completely out of the back of the end zone. Janikowski established a career high with 29 touchbacks in 2010. The veteran kicker's previous career high was 22 set in 2002 and duplicated in 2007 and 2008.
BLOCK…AND BLOCK SOME MORE: Through three games of the 2011 NFL regular season, the Raider blockers have allowed the second-fewest number of sacks in the NFL - two.
HOME GAME OPENERS: With the 34-24 win over the New York Jets September 25, The Oakland Raiders now have a 36-15-1 in home regular season openers. The contest marked the third game that the Raiders and Jets have met in the Silver and Black's home opener and now the Raiders are 2-1. The Raiders lost to the then-New York Titans, who were led by future Raider Lee Grosscup and Raider Legend Art Powell, 28-17, and beat the Jets 31-0 in 1985.
