Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly in week eight loss to Colts
By Kevin Saito
Good: Derek Car r Shines
You have to hand it to Derek Carr – having had to listen to all of the trade chatter, fans calling for him to be jettisoned into the center of the sun, questioning his toughness, and every other sort of bashing he’s been taking these last few weeks, he came out and played some inspired football.
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Against the Colts, Carr was sharp. Efficient. Dare we say – electric? For a time during that game, he looked more like the 2016 version of Derek Carr – the one who was a serious MVP candidate. He led the Raiders on touchdown drives of 75 yards, 79 yards, 75 yards, and another of 75 yards.
He was making smart decisions, and even better throws in finishing the game 21/28 (a 75 percent completion rate) for 244 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Carr finished the game with a season best QB rating of 136.6.
Carr had the offense humming along, and honestly, for the most part, looking a lot better without wideout Amari Cooper – traded to Dallas last week, in case you’ve been living under a rock – than they have with Cooper for the last couple of seasons.
Carr led an offensive attack – at least, for a good portion of the game – that blended some strong running, sharp passing, and moved the ball efficiently. The offense bogged down late, when it was needed the most, but that’s mostly on the defense’s inability to stop – well – anything.
On the day, Carr accounted for all four of Oakland’s scores – three passing, and rushing for one as well. He did everything he could to put this team in a position to win, and the defense went full Lucy Van Pelt, and pulled the ball away at the last minute, dropping everybody right on their backsides.
But Carr was definitely one of the few bright, shining spots, on an otherwise miserable day for this Raiders team.