3 takeaways from Raiders’ win: White’s heroics help end losing skid — PHOTOS

The Raiders were their own worst enemy their first five games of the season.

They finally gave themselves a helping hand Sunday.

The Raiders took care of the ball for the most part, got some takeaways, avoided critical mistakes and snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating the Titans 20-10 at Allegiant Stadium.

Linebacker Devin White had an interception and a forced fumble to lead a defense that finished with three takeaways and six sacks for the first time since 2002, according to ESPN.

“There is nothing more of a factor than the football,” coach Pete Carroll said. “When you get right down to it, there’s nothing more important than that. If you don’t give it up, you win 75 percent of the time. So to be in the plus, it’s important. We’ve got to get our numbers back up (where) we’re in plus for the season. It’s going to be a bit, but we’re going to get there.”

The Raiders entered Week 6 with a minus-6 turnover differential, the second-worst mark in the NFL.

White helped change that equation. He sacked Tennessee rookie quarterback Cam Ward with 6:12 remaining in the second quarter and the ball was recovered by defensive end Tyree Wilson at the Titans’ 2-yard line. Tight end Michael Mayer scored a touchdown three plays later to put the Raiders (2-4) up 10-0. White also intercepted Ward with 16 seconds left before halftime and the Titans (1-5) in field-goal range.

Wide receiver Tre Tucker had five catches for 70 yards for the Raiders. Mayer, with tight end Brock Bowers out for the second straight game with a left knee injury, had five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty had 23 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. His 3-yard score put the Raiders up 17-0 with 7:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, also fumbled the ball on the Titans’ final drive. He did throw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Martin-Robinson to cut his team’s deficit to 20-10 with 3:03 remaining.

Raiders quarterback Geno Smith completed 17 of his 23 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. He also threw his NFL-leading 10th interception.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Smith plays (somewhat) better

The story of the Raiders’ season entering Sunday was about how they kept shooting themselves in the foot. Smith’s turnover woes were a huge part of that narrative.

He didn’t make it through the Titans game without a pick. He was trying to throw the ball away on his third-quarter interception, but left enough air under his pass for linebacker Cody Barton to catch it.

“I told coach I need to go jump in the lake or ocean or something,” Smith said. “I mean, it’s just a lot of bad luck stuff happening to me.”

Smith played a clean game for the most part outside of that miscue. One of his most impressive throws came in the fourth quarter with the Raiders facing a third-and-7 at their own 46-yard line. He found Tucker for a 37-yard gain, which set up a field goal by kicker Daniel Carlson that put the team up 20-3 with 7:14 remaining.

“It wasn’t as clean as I would like. Obviously, can’t throw an interception in that situation,” Smith said. “I thought we did a great job on some third-down situations. I thought we ran the ball well, first and second down, kept ourselves on schedule. And that allowed us to play our game. And so when we can go out there and play the way that we’re supposed to and we can execute the right way, we have a shot to win a lot of games.”

Smith still needs to improve if the Raiders want to make something of this season. But Sunday was a step in the right direction.

2. Pass rush comes alive

The Raiders led for 79 of 300 minutes (26.3 percent) their first five games of the season. They led for 49:07 against the Titans.

That made a huge difference for their defense, which could pin its ears back and get after Ward. The Raiders’ six sacks were a season high. They also finished with eight quarterback hits, their most since their Week 1 win over the Patriots (nine).

The Raiders had eight sacks total their first five games.

“This was our best complementary football game,” said linebacker Elandon Roberts, who had four tackles. “I know people want to say this and say that, but we’ve got a lot of juice on this team. The team is not broken. There’s no arguing with no coaches. It’s none of that.”

3. White comes up big

White, 27, has had an up-and-down season for the Raiders. He’s earned poor grades from the website Pro Football Focus and has been a liability at times in pass coverage.

The No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft by the Buccaneers turned back the clock Sunday. White had a team-high nine tackles in addition to his interception and forced fumble.

Both takeaways were huge for the Raiders, who forced four turnovers their first five games.

“I don’t know (that) anybody could put up more numbers than Devin White did today,” Carroll said. “That’s a great football game for him.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.