Raiders Rediscover a Way to Win, 34-13

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Oakland Raiders found relief Sunday. The New York Jets found nothing but more pain and more defeat.

The struggling Raiders came alive behind rookie tight end Rickey Dudley and second-year running back Joe Aska for a 34-13 rout of the hapless Jets. Oakland (2-4) won for only the second time in its last 12 games, while the Jets are off to their first 0-6 start ever.

The Jets also lost quarterback Neil O’Donnell for four to six weeks because of a separated right shoulder.

“It’s been a long, long season,” O’Donnell said.

It was a long, disappointing first five weeks for Oakland, which not only played poorly but lost several starters, including running backs Harvey Williams and Napoleon Kaufman. While Kaufman played sparingly against the Jets, Aska was sensational, rushing for 136 yards, four more than he gained in his entire NFL career.

“Our young players really stepped up,” said Oakland Coach Mike White, whose job was in jeopardy because of the slow start after the Raiders lost their final six games a year ago. “Joe Aska had a tremendous game. He seems to get better as he plays more football.”

Aska finished the scoring with a 30-yard run.

“I just have to do my part,” said the 1995 third-round draft pick from Central Oklahoma. “I feel good. I just do what they ask me to do.”

Dudley, a first-round choice this year from Ohio State, was open all day. He caught two of Jeff Hostetler’s three touchdown passes, for 23 and two yards.

“It was a matter of matchups,” said Dudley, who beat every Jet trying to cover him. “They had a lot of linebackers on me, so I knew my height and speed would be an advantage.

“I needed a lift. Joe needed a lift. It gives us the confidence we need to play at this level. We know the veterans will do their thing each week, but we need to establish ourselves, as well.”

It was little solace for the Jets that Nick Lowery tied Jan Stenerud’s NFL record for career field goals with 373. Lowery, a 17-year veteran, made a 24-yarder in the third quarter to equal the record.

“I’m grateful that I’m alive and kicking,” he said. Then he thought about the disastrous season and added, “It’s more than a black cloud, it’s an entire ecosystem.”

Following a scoreless first period, the Raiders went ahead on Cole Ford’s first field goal, a 26-yarder. New York tied it as Adrian Murrell’s 42-yard run set up Lowery’s 43-yard field goal.

But Oakland came right back with an impressive 85-yard drive in only eight plays. Helped by Bobby Houston’s roughing-the-passer penalty, the Raiders reached the 23, where Dudley easily beat Victor Green to catch Hostetler’s pass for a 10-3 lead.

Ford added a 35-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the first half after Terry McDaniel returned an interception of Frank Reich’s pass 43 yards to the New York 34.

“It was a miscommunication between Wayne Chrebet and myself,” Reich said. “We read the same coverage, but I felt he would do a different timing move and I threw it outside before he really made his move.”