O'Connell passes for 257 yards and Raiders snap 10-game skid with 19-14 win over Jaguars

LAS VEGAS — Raiders owner Mark Davis made the rounds Sunday to congratulate the players as music blared inside the locker room.

It didn't matter to Davis or the players that Las Vegas had just damaged its chances of securing the No. 1 overall draft pick in next year's NFL draft.

The Raiders had finally won — for the first time in nearly three months.

Aidan O'Connell returned from an injury and passed for 257 yards, and the Raiders ended a 10-game losing streak with a 19-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

''Just to come in here and win,'' Raiders tight end Brock Bowers said. ''The vibes are way better.''

The Raiders, whose skid was the longest active streak in the NFL, won for the first time since beating the Cleveland Browns 20-16 on Sept. 29. The victory, however, means the Raiders (3-12) moved ahead of the league-worst New York Giants (2-13). The team with the worst record is in line for the top pick in next year's draft, and the Raiders are sixth at this point, according to Tankathon.

Not that Las Vegas coach Antonio Pierce wanted to hear about the implications of possibly missing out on a top quarterback in the draft.

''Talk to (general manager) Tom Telesco,'' Pierce said.

Jacksonville (3-12) has lost seven of its last eight games and is 2-9 in one-score contests, and moved up to third in the draft order, according to the website.

O'Connell made his first start in two weeks. He didn't play in Monday night's 15-9 loss to Atlanta because of a left knee injury.

''It was just fun to see the smiles again,'' O'Connell said. ''It's a big part of why you play the game. To not have it for 10 weeks in a row is tough.''

Bowers caught 11 passes for 99 yards, leaving him 10 yards away from breaking Mike Ditka's 63-year-old NFL rookie record for tight ends. Ditka had 1,076 yards in 1961. Bowers did become the third rookie tight end to reach 1,000 yards in a season, joining Ditka and Atlanta's Kyle Pitts in 2021.

Jacksonville's Brian Thomas Jr. caught nine passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, giving him 73 catches this season and breaking the rookie club record of 64 set by Justin Blackmon in 2012. Thomas also is the Jaguars' rookie record holder for receiving yards (1,087) and touchdowns (nine).

Mac Jones passes for 247 yards and a TD for the Jaguars.

But the Jaguars also lost two fumbles, committed eight penalties for 60 yards and had 15 first downs.

''It's the most frustrating thing that I've ever seen or been a part of,'' Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. "Obviously, it's something that's been holding us back all year. Gosh, at some point you would think that enough would be enough. We'd learn from it. Move on. But it seems to be plaguing us each week.''

Safety Isaiah Pola-Mao forced both fumbles, becoming the first Raiders defensive back since Charles Woodson in 1999 to create more than one.

''That's pretty cool, but I'm glad we got the dub,'' Pola-Mao said. ''That's more than anything.''

This is the first game this season in which the Raiders did not trail by double digits. Their 14-game streak to open a season was second only to the Indianapolis Colts' steak of 16 games in 1986.

The Raiders' 10-game losing streak was the fifth-longest in franchise history, and their longest since dropping 16 in a row between the 2013-14 seasons.

Las Vegas even had a chance to go up two possessions late in the third quarter, but Daniel Carlson missed a 46-yard field goal to the left with 2:18 left. Jacksonville capitalized when Jones found a wide-open Thomas deep on the left side of the field for a 62-yard touchdown and 14-13 lead with 54 seconds left in the third.

Las Vegas answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in Ameer Abdullah's 7-yard scoring run less than four minutes into the fourth quarter. O'Connell's pass on a 2-point conversion was overthrown, leaving the Raiders with a 19-14 lead.

Injuries

Jaguars: LT Walker Little (ankle), RT Anton Harrison (shoulder), S Darnell Savage (concussion) and LB Ventrell Miller (ankle) were hurt.

Raiders: CBs Nate Hobbs (illness) and Sam Webb (back/illness) and G Jordan Meredith (ankle) did not play.

Up next

Jaguars: Host Tennessee on Sunday.

Raiders: Visit New Orleans on Sunday.

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