Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly from week five loss to Chargers

Ugly: Derek Carr

Statistically speaking, Carr had a decent game. If all you read was the box score, you’d think that Carr played well enough to win, but the team around him just didn’t make enough plays. It’s a formula we’ve seen week after week so far this year.

Much like every other game this season, Carr put up a good stat line – 73 percent passing (24/33) for 268 yards, with a touchdown, an interception, and a QB Rating of 94.0. Not bad, right?

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Those numbers are pretty well in line with his numbers overall this season. The trouble is, all of those yards come between the 20’s, and when the team needs him to make a big play, he falls apart more often than not.

The Cleveland game – Oakland’s lone win this year – is the exception to that rule. In that game, he was nails in bringing the team back from a late 14-point deficit to win it in over time. Against the Browns, who are seeming to be pretty legit at this point, Carr was pretty electric.

Against everybody else so far this year though, he’s been pretty – average.

As one stat geek recently noted, Carr is the first player in Raiders history to have more interceptions (8) than touchdown throws (7) after five games, not named JaMarcus Russell. It’s a cherry-picked stat that ultimately may not mean much – probably. But, it’s also a little eye opening, and sobering, to be sure.

Carr is being paid like a franchise quarterback. It’s well past time he step up and perform like one.