Raiders rally for Mexico City victory

Raiders rally for Mexico City victory

MEXICO CITY — The altitude at Azteca Stadium must have been to blame — because the Raiders’ offense couldn’t breathe until the fourth quarter.

Outplayed by the Texans most of the night, Derek Carr and Oakland struck quickly Monday.

After fullback Jamize Olawale tied the game with a long touchdown reception, Carr found Latavius Murray for a 39-yard catch and then Amari Cooper for a 35-yard game-winner with 4:43 left in the game.

Head coach Jack Del Rio put the cherry on the 27-20 victory when he went for it on 4th-and-1 with 58 seconds left.

If you’ve been paying attention this season, obviously Murray got the first down, to the delight of a Raiders-heavy crowd of 76,473.

“We got punched in the mouth and weren’t doing the things we wanted to do,” Carr said.

[...] there was no doubt we were going to win that game.

The Raiders were a step slow until they weren’t, when Olawale shocked the country — two countries, actually — with his 75-yard touchdown catch with 10:44 left.

A variation worked for a 68-yard touchdown against the Bucs last month, and Olawale showed his speed again Monday night when he made free safety Andre Hall miss after the catch.

Raiders running backs finished with 11 catches for 199 yards.

“All those guys can make plays,” Del Rio said.

Olawale can break loose and do some damage.

[...] just like that, with the three big plays from the offense, all the drops, footing issues, the inability to stop Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and wide-open Houston tight ends were forgotten.

The Raiders are 8-2, alone in first place in the AFC West and are international conquerors.

On Monday, Houston running back Akeem Hunt seemed to get the first down on 4th-and-1 with 6:15 left, but the Texans got a bad spot and Carr, Murray and Cooper were in business.

The Raiders had jumped to a 10-3 lead on a Jalen Richard 17-yard TD catch and Sebastian Janikowski’s 19-yard field goal.

[...] the Texans grabbed control of the game temporarily in the second and third quarter.

After rookie linebacker Shilique Calhoun dropped what looked like an interception (with an easy path to the end zone), the Texans marched down the field.

The “home crowd” did its part.

On a third-down play in the second quarter, Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler had to call a timeout because Raiders fans were too loud.

Houston running back Lamar Miller broke through the line when linebacker Bruce Irvin couldn’t set the edge and looked to score from 34 yards out.

A replay showed he was out at the 1.

Two plays and 11 yards backward later, Osweiler found Braxton Miller for a 12-yard touchdown.

Miller gave cornerback David Amerson not only a double move, but a slow-motion triple move and Amerson turned to jelly.

[...] to start the third quarter, Carr did something he hasn’t done for a couple of years — throw one up for grabs where there were more defenders than receivers.

The interception by A.J. Bouye fueled another Houston drive, with Lamar Miller punching it in from a yard out.

The Raiders had a chance to answer right back, but Michael Crabtree’s great hands apparently didn’t get their work visa settled as he had his second drop of the night.

Carr went right back to him on the next play, deep again, and Crabtree was dragged down for a pass-interference call.

The Raiders, despite a first down at the 8-yard line, couldn’t score a touchdown.

Vic Tafur is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Email: vtafur@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VicTafur

The Raiders used to make a habit out of winning at least eight of their first 10 games — they haven’t done so since 2001 — and it usually foreshadowed a deep postseason run.

Finish

Lost Super Bowl II

Lost AFC Championship

Lost AFC Championship

Won Super Bowl XI

Lost AFC Championship

No playoffs

Lost AFC Championship

Lost AFC Division round

Threw an ugly interception when it looked like game might be slipping away, but again made big plays down stretch.

Mexican fans will be buying some No. 4 jerseys.

Head coach Jack Del Rio said, “He’s supposed to be our brusing fullback.”

[...] there he goes down the field for 75 yards.

Bad spot or not, the linebacker made the stop on big 4th and 1 play late.

[...] showed his hops with an earlier interception.