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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Another week, another remarkable comeback for the Oakland Raiders. This time the Raiders trailed the Buffalo Bills by 15 points with 9:01 left in the third quarter at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday after giving up back-to-back touchdowns to open the second half.
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Oakland responded with 29 unanswered points and rolled to a 38-24 victory. The Raiders won their sixth straight game and improved to 10-2, their best start since 2000 when they opened the season 10-2 and reached the AFC Championship Game.
Oakland remained alone in first place in the West, one game ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs (9-3) with a showdown at Arrowhead Stadium set for Thursday night.
"When you talk about the heart of the team, you got to play great defense down the stretch to win games," Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack said. "Our offense was rolling, man, 29 unanswered points. That's special. We knew we had to step up and do something special at the end."
Derek Carr threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns as he recorded his sixth fourth-quarter comeback for a victory this season.
"He's just locked in," Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper said of Carr. "He's ready to go. He loves to win. He loves to go out there and compete."
The Bills (6-6) lost in Oakland for the ninth straight time as their playoff hopes took a huge blow. Buffalo hasn't won at the Coliseum since 1966.
"Sometimes you feel that momentum shift, and it just snowballed on us," Bills coach Rex Ryan said. "Sometimes I think we lose confidence. You can't ever have that happen to you. To their credit now, (Oakland) has done this a bunch. This is a heck of an offense."
Wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught seven passes for 74 yards and one touchdown for the Raiders. Latavius Murray carried 20 times for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper had two catches for 59 yards and a 37-yard touchdown.
LeSean McCoy rushed for 130 yards on 17 carries and caught six passes for 47 yards for Buffalo. Tyrod Taylor completed 18 of 35 passes for 191 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. Mike Gillislee rushed for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
The Raiders cut Buffalo's lead to 24-16 on Carr's 3-yard touchdown pass to Crabtree with 5:17 left in the third quarter.
Oakland took over at Buffalo's 38 after Jalen Richard returned Colton Schmidt's 35-yard punt 17 yards. Two plays later, Richard bolted 21 yards off left tackle to the Bills' 13. Murray scored on a 1-yard run, slicing Buffalo's lead to 24-23 with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Raiders forced another punt and moved ahead 30-24 on Carr's 37-yard touchdown pass to Cooper with 14:08 left to play.
"When things were going bad, we just stayed the course," Carr said. "Because if we make the plays we're supposed to make, we can score a lot of points."
Oakland's next drive ended with a Marquette King punt, but the Raiders downed the ball at the Buffalo 4. And on first down, Mack deflected Taylor's pass and safety Nate Allen intercepted, giving Oakland a first down at Buffalo's 16.
"I'm glad he's on my team," Carr said of Mack. "I'm glad we can help lead this team together. It's really fun."
Allen's interception set up Murray's 3-yard touchdown run. When Carr hit wide receiver Seth Roberts with a two-point conversion pass, Oakland had a 38-24 lead with 8:34 left to play.
Mack sealed the victory with a strip-sack of Taylor and fumble recovery at the Raiders 23 with 3:20 to play.
"I just reached for the ball and some kind of way it was cradled in my hands," said Mack, who has at least one sack in seven straight games. "I was surprised."
Carr injured his right pinky finger early in the third quarter the previous week against Carolina and played the rest of that game wearing a glove on his throwing hand and taking every snap in the shotgun formation. Carr got rid of the glove against Buffalo, but he had his injured finger taped and didn't take any snaps under center. He completed 19 of 35 passes.
The Bills built a 10-9 halftime lead and scored 57 seconds into the second half on Taylor's 12-yard run. The Bills marched 54 yards in 10 plays for Gillislee's 2-yard touchdown run up the middle with 9:01 left in the third for a 24-9 edge.
"We had some success and then we just collapsed," McCoy said. "We couldn't move the ball, we couldn't do anything right. We stalled on a few drives and had the turnover. It was a super snowball effect."
NOTES:
Raiders starting DT Stacy McGee (ankle) and backup DT Darius Latham (ankle) were inactive. DL Denico made the start.
Raiders rookie RB DeAndrew Washington was inactive for the second straight game.
Bills CB Ronald Darby (concussion) was inactive, and rookie Kevon Seymour started in his place.
Bills WR Robert Woods (knee) was inactive, and Marquise Goodwin started in his place.
Bills starting TE Charles Clay did not make the trip to Oakland, remaining in Buffalo for the birth of his baby. Backup TE Nick O'Leary started.
