Spayer419
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Super Bowl LII was an historic event, with the Raiders capturing the Lombardi Trophy in their first year in Los Angeles, toppling the then 18-0 Chicago Bears. The world's biggest game pitted two of the best young quarterbacks in the league in Max Jeter and Derek Carr against one another for a battle of league supremacy. We sat down with members of the Raiders' team, front office and coaching staff - along with broadcasters from the game - for an oral retelling of one of the best Super Bowls in the sport's history.
Coming into the game the Raiders were favored by 8.5 points, despite Chicago being only the third team ever to complete the regular season without a loss. Media members cited the Raiders' high-powered passing game and strength in the trenches as factors that favored Los Angeles.
Derek Carr (Quarterback, Raiders): You watch it on T.V. growing up, and you understand the enormity of it, but there is no way to experience the circus that surrounds playing in the Super Bowl until you actually live it. We heard talk of us being favorites coming into the game, but I think our veterans kept us grounded.
Haloti Ngata (Defensive Tackle, Raiders): Our team was on fire all year, and we have some notable veterans, but I think it was understated just how young this group was. Our core is a fourth-year QB, third-year WR, 2nd-year receiver, 2nd-year tight end and rookie running back offensively. None of them had been in a playoff game before. Neither had guy like Joe Haden or Khalil Mack. So I took the responsibility of being everyone's crutch leading up to the game. I think it helped calm everyone down, but you could see the jitters when that game kicked off.
Shontrelle Gordon (Rookie Linebacker, Raiders): I couldn't contain myself, it felt like the national anthem went on for a day. We were very confident that we could control their run game defensively, and we knew that our offense would score points. We liked our chances coming in. I don't want to say we were over confident, but we did not think we would lose that game.
On the Raider's opening drive Derek Carr completed a third down pass to Victor Cruz. On the next play, however, he forced a pass under pressure for an early interception - his first turnover of the post season. The Bears took over with great field position and a chance to capture a significant momentum swing. But the Raiders defense held Chicago to a quick three-and-out for a field goal, with Shontrelle Gordon shooting the gap to stop a run play for a loss on 3rd-and-2.
Carr: That first drive was a disaster. I should have bitten the bullet and taken the sack, but with the adrenaline that high it's tough. I knew the ball was picked the second it left my hand. The rest was a formality. I just remember thinking to myself that I put our team behind the 8-ball.
Gordon: When the defense took the field I saw Khalil look at Derek and say, "We got your back here." We get in the huddle and the mission was clear. No touchdowns.
Khalil Mack (Defensive End, Raiders): You figure in those situations that the offense is OK settling for 3, and they don't want to turn it over themselves. We knew they wanted to run the ball regardless. In that situation we took it upon ourselves, as a unit, to win the point of attack. Shontrelle made a great play on third down.
Gordon: Never thought for a second a pass was coming on third down. Defensive line plugged the holes and I shot the gap. Game over.
Jim Nantz (Broadcaster, Super Bowl LII): You get a feeling on that moment that was a huge win for the Raiders. Yes they're down 3-0, but they've now proven that Langford cant run against their front, and they swing the momentum back in their favor. There were a few key moments in the game, swing moments if you will that tilted the pendulum back in LA's favor. That stop really set a tone: It wasn't going to come easy for Chicago.
On the ensuing drive the Raiders faced an immediate 3rd-and-4. A three-and-out would have given Chicago great field position to build on its lead. Instead, Carr rifled a pass to Evonte Patrick on a quick curl. The second-year speedster did the rest, exploding out of his route to evade three defenders for a 77-yard score.
Carr: I see Evonte bring the pass in past the sticks, and my mind immediately goes to the next play. And then I look up and he's racing toward the end zone. He's made those plays for us all year, but that was especially big.
Evonte Patrick (AFC Receiver of the Year, Raiders): It was one on one coverage with the linebacker dropping into my zone. Derek did a great job of getting the ball out quick, right when I hit my break. I turned, the ball was there, and the corner dove to make a tackle. Once I was past him, I knew I was gone.
Nantz: Another swing play. The Bears get held to three, and three plays later the Raiders strike for six. You could tell that scoring there really calmed Carr too.
Carr: I don't think we could afford a three-and-out there. But to answer that quickly and take the lead. We just felt real confident from there on out.
Patrick turns the corner, turns on the jets, and he's gone
From there the game swung back and forth, with the Raiders taking a brief 17-10 lead after a Bears' fumbled punt return, followed by Jeter driving Chicago down field to knot the game at 17. With just :59 left in the half and one timeout, Carr led the Raiders on one of the game's biggest drives for a field goal as time expired. The highlight of the drive was LA's decision to throw one more pass with :06 left on the clock, moving the ball from the 42 to the 29-yard line with just a second remaining to set up the go-ahead kick.
Jack Del Rio (Raiders Coach): We practice those situations every Friday, the one minute drill. We called the flood concept on the last passing play, which is a concept we go to a lot in those situations. Derek was given the choice to run the play, or check out of it for a Hail Mary if it looked like Chicago was expecting us to go underneath. We couldn't afford to throw a pass in bounds and keep the clock running. Derek made the right read, and Amari made a great play to get out of bounds.
Amari Cooper (Receiver, Raiders): Those moments are like when you're a kid playing ball in the back yard, counting down the clock for a game-winning play. I had the clock humming in my head and we executed like I knew we would.
Phil Sims (Broadcaster, Super Bowl LII): Jim and I had the opportunity to call a lot of Raiders games this year. We talked about it before the game, that these Raiders just had a knack for executing in clutch moments. I think that was demonstrated perfectly on the last drive of the first half.
Nantz: And what that field goal did for LA, it made it so they never played from behind in the second half. That was a huge tone setter, and yet another instance where the Raiders executed in a swing situation.
