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ALAMEDA — For once, it was the Oakland Raiders who got the ball and kept hold of it as the clock slowly ticked away. 

“That was beautiful. Ohhhh, thank you,” defensive tackle Sam Adams said Monday. 

In the Raiders’ emotional 27-20 victory over Super Bowl champion New England on Sunday night, Oakland held the ball for the first 9:42 of the third quarter and wound up in the end zone. 

That kept Patriots quarterback Tom Brady from doing much of anything. He couldn’t even lead his team to a touchdown the whole game, the first meeting between the teams since the Patriots beat the Raiders on the disputed “tuck rule” call in their snowy playoff game back in January. 

Controlling the ball was an accomplishment in itself for the Raiders, who have won two straight after a four-game losing streak. 

Only two weeks ago, the San Francisco 49ers had done the same thing to beat the Raiders on a field goal in overtime. Niners quarterback Jeff Garcia led his team to victory by maintaining possession for the final 30 plays, which spanned more than 15 minutes. 

“That’s what everybody has been doing to us all season, running out the clock,” offensive lineman Frank Middleton said. “We wanted to return the favor.” 

The Raiders didn’t hesitate to express their frustration after the loss to San Francisco, their fourth straight defeat, but were careful not to place blame on the defense. 

Quarterback Rich Gannon has returned to his early-season form. After throwing for 352 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-10 win at Denver last Monday night, he patiently led the Raiders on Sunday as they did a better job of mixing in their running game, and used mostly short gains to move the ball. 

“We knew we had to put some points on the board,” receiver Jerry Rice said. “New England in the second half, they’re so strong.” 

And members of the defense sure were thrilled to get a chance to rest for nearly a quarter. Lately, it’s been rare to see them on the sidelines for such a long stretch. 

“It was great,” safety Rod Woodson said. “It gives you an opportunity to watch and stay off the field. That always feels good. Playing San Francisco, we did it the opposite way, but we’re playing well.” 

Coach Bill Callahan had scripted his first 10 plays for the second half as he always does, and the Raiders just kept moving down the field. 

“We didn’t go into the second half thinking we were going to run it off,” Callahan said Monday. “It’s positive. Anytime you look at the end of the series and you take 9 minutes, 42 seconds off the clock, it’s very gratifying. Everybody in this league would concur with that. 

To start the second half and to leave that offense on the other side of the field on the bench, I think our defense appreciated that.”