MEXICO CITY -- It only felt like Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and the rest of the Oakland Raiders' offense did not clear customs for the first three quarters of the first Monday Night Football game in Mexico in NFL history.
Turns out they were just biding their time, getting acclimated to the 7,382-foot elevation at Estadio Azteca, playing as poorly as they had in recent weeks before exploding in the fourth quarter for two touchdowns to pull out a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans.
"There’s never a doubt in our minds," Carr said. "There was never a doubt last year, there is never a doubt this year. It’s just, who’s going to make the play?"
Early on, though, the Raiders were flat. They had only 120 yards of offense and trailed by seven before Carr hit fullback Jamize Olawale for a 75-yard touchdown early in the fourth and then Cooper for the deciding 35-yard score with under five minutes remaining.
It was the eighth game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime for Carr since the start of the 2015 season. Only the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford has more in that time, with nine; the New York Giants’ Eli Manning has seven.
"Oh man, you talk about winning games in the stretch, he put us in position to win the game," Raiders All-Pro defensive end/outside linebacker Khalil Mack said. "And you’ve seen the pass to Olawale, you’ve seen the pass to the Latavius [Murray], he's playing great football."
Mack also had a sack, his seventh in the past five games and eighth of the season.
"It was a huge part for our team," Cooper said of Olawale's score. "Everybody was happy on the sidelines and you saw that they felt like the momentum was shifting for them."
Of course, the win did not come without drama, and coach Jack Del Rio’s daring.
Facing fourth-and-1 at the Houston 39 with just more than a minute to play and clinging to a seven-point lead, the Raiders went for it and Latavius Murray busted off a 6-yard run to essentially seal the game, especially with the Texans' Vince Wilfork getting flagged for a personal foul after jumping on top of Murray.
"We fear nobody -- that’s what Coach Del Rio teaches us," Carr said.
The Raiders, coming off their bye week, improved to 8-2 and hold a one-game lead in the AFC West over the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. If the playoffs started today, the Raiders would be the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
"We have worked for it. But we know when we get there, we’re going to be humble," Carr said of the team's success. "We are going to remain humble. As soon as you get proud, you will fall."