For the most part, Thursday Night Football games are duds. The teams in these mid-week primetime showdowns play on a short week, which usually translates to mediocre performances on the field.
However, the past couple of TNF games have been pretty darn exciting.
One week after Marcus Mariota led his Tennessee Titans to a win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders faced off in another divisional clash, which could arguably be the best game of the season.
There was plenty to love from this AFC West battle; Alex Smith had huge numbers yet again, Amari Cooper found the end zone (twice) for the first time since Week 1, and Marshawn Lynch went full “Beast Mode” for the wrong reasons by being ejected for shoving a referee.
Marshawn Lynch ejected pic.twitter.com/5tgtRSe7O8
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) October 20, 2017
But what made Thursday night's game one to remember, is the Raiders' final drive with less than three minutes left in the contest. Down by six, Derek Carr led Oakland down the field for an 85-yard game-winning drive that got wilder after each play.
A long pass to tight end Jared Cook looked to have sealed the game for the Raiders with less than 30 seconds left on the clock but, was ruled short of a yard from the end zone by the officials. Michael Crabtree's ensuing touchdown catch was waived due to offensive pass interference, but two-straight penalties by the Chiefs after that play kept the drive alive for the Raiders.
This would all end after Crabtree redeemed himself with a clean touchdown catch as time expired, as the Silver and Black fans went into a frenzy.
With the loss, the Chiefs fall to 4-2, leaving the Philadelphia Eagles as the only team in the NFL with just one defeat for the season. The Raiders, meanwhile, improve to 3-4 to stay alive in the division race.
Relive the thrilling conclusion of Thursday night's game below:
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