Oakland Raiders 4-0 on road after knocking off Jacksonville Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Oakland Raiders proved again Sunday that they have no problem traveling to the East Coast this season.

They even brought their defense this time.

Currently atop the AFC West largely because of their dynamic offense, Oakland used a strong performance from its defense to stifle the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars and win 33-16 at EverBank Field.

"I thought there was some complementary football on offense, defense and special teams playing together," Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. "Defense great in short fields. Special teams helping to be even shorter fields, and offense capitalizing on that. It was a good, solid victory. We needed that. We're happy to get chapter seven in the books."

Oakland (5-2) entered the game last in the league in passing yards allowed (312.7 per game) and total yards allowed (444.8 per game) despite their improved record after more than a decade of futility.

The Raiders looked like a totally revamped unit against the Jaguars.

Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles struggled throughout the game and finished 23-of-43 passing for 246 yards. He had two interceptions and a lone touchdown that came to tight end Julius Thomas in the fourth quarter with Oakland comfortably ahead.

The Jaguars (2-4) finished with 344 yards of offense and just 19 first downs while going 4 of 13 on third down.

"We need to respond fast," said linebacker Paul Posluszny, whose Jaguars play Thursday night at Tennessee. "A division opponent right around the corner. We need to be able to come in (Monday) right away and look at this and say, 'This is not good enough. This is not good enough.' Then start preparing for our next opponent."

Jacksonville will want to move on from this one as quickly as possible.

The Raiders took control of the game just before halftime when quarterback Derek Carr found receiver Michael Crabtree for a 2-yard touchdown on a quick in-cutting route while working against cornerback Prince Amukamara to take a 20-6 lead.

Crabtree set up the score with an acrobatic 56-yard reception on third down three plays before. He was strong throughout the first half as the Jaguars deployed rookie cornerback Jalen Ramsey on Amari Cooper.

Crabtree finished the game with a team-high eight catches for 96 yards, while Cooper was held to four catches for 29 yards.

"Crabtree made some incredible plays today for us," Del Rio said. "There was one early in the game on third down where the ball was out way before he turned his head around, and he made a tremendous play there for a third-down conversion. Throughout the game, he came up big for us, and I thought he played really, really well for us. Obviously, our quarterback is a good player. He did a good job for us hooking up with different receivers, but today Carr to Crabtree was special."

Carr finished the game an easy 23-of-37 passing for 200 yards with no turnovers.

The game took an even uglier turn - particularly for the Jaguars - in the fourth quarter when three players were ejected.

First was Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson, who was flagged for a personal foul for roughing Carr after a pass. Jackson was then hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty for verbally assaulting officials.

Following a 52-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski - one of his four field goals on the day - to put the Raiders up 26-9 with 11:37 remaining in the game, Jackson received another unsportsmanlike penalty and was kicked out of the game.

Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Raiders receiver Johnny Holton were ejected for fighting with 3:35 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The two teams combined for 239 yards in penalties.

"I think it's terrible," Posluszny said. "We need to act like professionals at all times, regardless of what happens. To have guys get thrown out, multiple penalties over and over again, that's not who we are. We can't tolerate that moving forward."

Despite the ugliness, the Raiders are pleased to leave with a victory.

Oakland is now 4-0 on the road this season - the last time they accomplished that came when the franchise advanced to the AFC Championship Game in 2000 - with wins at New Orleans, at Tennessee, at Baltimore and now in Jacksonville.

The Raiders gave Del Rio - who coached for nine seasons in Jacksonville - the game ball after the contest.

It was a satisfying victory all around.

"We knew it was going to be tough," Raiders running back Latavius Murray said, "and we did what we needed to do."

NOTES: Jaguars NT Roy Miller left the game during the third quarter with a right Achilles' tendon injury and did not return. ... Jaguars TE Marcedes Lewis played in his 150th game with the team while DE Tyson Alualu played in his 100th. ... Oakland RB Latavius Murray (toe) was active after missing two games and finished with 18 carries for 59 yards and two touchdowns. ... P Marquette King gained ran for 27 yards on a botched punt late in the fourth quarter to set up Murray's second score. ... Raiders coach Jack Del Rio spent nine years coaching in Jacksonville and compiled a 68-71 record.