Derek Carr: Video Analysis of Seahawks Game

Ball Placement

Moving forward to the 3:30 mark, this was my favorite play of the game and ties into the Brees example I mentioned above. The pass rush comes from Carr’s right and while the defender may have not been a serious threat, Carr showed incredible progress from just a couple drives earlier.

Carr stayed calm, dipped his shoulder a bit to avoid being grabbed, moved up and slightly left into the pocket, looked off the safety (!!) to the left, reset his feet to the right, and dropped a 40-yard dime to a wide-open Moore for the touchdown. I shed a tear of joy on this one.

Aug 28, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) passes for a first down during the second quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

The #StartTheCarr madness really took off in the next sequence. Some good fortune was definitely involved, but at the 5:00 mark, it seemed like destiny that this kid needed to be the Raiders’ starting quarterback. I saw a few people criticize this play as a bad read by Carr, but I didn’t have a problem with the read, only the ball placement.

Mychal Rivera began his slant to the inside while Malcolm Smith was still backpedaling, so a throw on the numbers would have not been deflected. The ball was thrown just a tad too low, so to improve on this, Carr would have had to either throw the ball higher or wait just a fraction of a second longer to throw it.

Windows for quarterbacks are incredibly small and all of the elite QB’s would have taken the same shot that Carr did, so again, no problem with the read or the chance that he took. Just ball placement or timing would be the improvement to look for next time.

Lastly, we’ll look at some of his last and most impressive plays.