Bills cap wild rally, edge Raiders at end

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Bills will take the win any way they can get it.

After a wild, back-and-forth fourth quarter, Ryan Fitzpatrick found David Nelson wide open on fourth down for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left to secure a 38-35 victory over the Raiders Sunday.

"I don't know what happened, but I think they misaligned, to be honest," Fitzpatrick said while noting how open Nelson was over the middle. "I was lucky enough to see it."

Chalk it up to luck, pluck and resilience, because the 2-0 Bills are showing they're improved.

A week after a 41-7 rout of the Chiefs, the Fitzpatrick-led offense had a 35-point second half in overcoming a 21-3 first-half deficit.

Buffalo scored touchdowns on each of its five second-half possessions as the teams traded the lead five times in the final 14:10.

Fitzpatrick completed 28 of 46 for 264 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Fred Jackson scored twice in the Bills' home opener.

"I can't recall one quite like that," first-year Bills coach Chan Gailey said. "It was an amazing gut-check by our football team. What they did coming out of halftime was really amazing."

The Raiders saw the result from a different perspective, after squandering a chance to be 2-0 for the first time since 2002.

"Not a whole lot to say other than that effort isn't going to be good enough," defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. "We didn't seem to give the offense any help in the second half. That's on us. It isn't good enough."

Jason Campbell was 23-for-33 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. Darren McFadden scored twice and had 72 yards rushing and 71 receiving. Denarius Moore had five catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.

The 38 points were the most allowed by Oakland in a defeat since a 43-37 loss to Seattle in 1998. And the Raiders allowed 481 yards -- 326 in the second half -- and 34 first downs.

"Good job by them, bad job by us," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "When it's all said and done, we did not finish the game."

Yet, the Raiders nearly pulled off an improbable comeback of their own. From his own 44-yard line, Campbell threw a desperation pass into the end zone as time expired. It was intercepted by rookie cornerback Da'Norris Searcy, who outwrestled Moore for the ball as they went to the ground.

As if the game needed any more drama, officials required 10 minutes to review Searcy's interception to determine the call on the field was correct. Referee Mike Carey returned to a near-empty stadium to announce the interception had in fact stood.

"Once I grabbed it,'' Searcy said, "I told myself nobody's going to grab it away from me."