Raiders fall to Rams

Five takeaways from a season-opening mess

Carr threw three picks in a disastrous performance Monday night during the Raiders’ season opener at home.

OAKLAND – Two consecutive plays midway through the fourth quarter captured Derek Carr in a nutshell.

The first, a 32-yard missile over the middle to Jared Cook for a first down. The second, a cringeworthy interception lobbed down the left side that landed in the hands of linebacker Cory Littleton with no Raiders in the vicinity.

Carr began his 2018 almost flawlessly, completing 12 of his first 13 passes for 145 yards. Then came an interception in the end zone, and far more unraveling from there. Like 2017, Carr flashed brilliance but more incompetence. That trend echoed Monday night, and the end result was the same as 10 times a year ago.

Carr finished 26-for-37 with 260 yards and three interceptions, including a game-sealing Marcus Peters pick-six inside two minutes left to put the Rams up three scores. He didn’t throw three picks in a single game last season.

The Carr stalled on Monday night, alright, and it led to the Raiders’ (0-1) demise in a 33-13 season-opening loss to the Rams (1-0) at the Coliseum.

Here are four other quick takeaways from the game.

Alright, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Without Khalil Mack, the Raiders’ pass rush was almost non-existent. Aside from a Bruce Irvin first-half strip-sack, the Raiders registered only one other QB hit.

Tank Carradine went from first-teamer all preseason to inactive, and the Raiders were left with rookie Arden Key and veteran Frostee Rucker. Key struggled to get by right tackle Rob Havenstein, and fellow rookies Mo Hurst and P.J. Hall hardly generated any push up the middle.

We knew the Raiders would miss Mack on the defensive line and that it might take some time to overcome that loss with the unit’s inexperience. Going against a rising young quarterback, a solid offensive line and a Mvp-caliber running back doesn’t help either.

Even so, the Raiders left plenty to be desired from a pressure standpoint up front.

At halftime, the Raiders were on pace to break the NFL singlegame record for most penalty yards. They had committed 10 infractions for 145 yards, including four holding calls on starting offensive linemen (two on Kelechi Osemele, one on Kolton Miller and Gabe Jackson). Both Dominique Rodgers-cromartie and Rashaan Melvin were flagged for defensive pass interference on deep balls to Brandin Cooks, too, because they didn’t turn their heads around in time.

The Raiders miraculously only committed a single penalty in the second half that cost them 10 yards, but they played substantially better when yellow flags flew all over the place.

So it makes you think: how much better could the Raiders have played on both sides in the first half without all those penalties? Would it have mattered in the end?

Cook almost bested his top single-game performance from a season ago in the first half Monday night. With Peters keeping Amari Cooper quiet and Aqib Talib holding Jordy Nelson in check, Cook saw more opportunities with his receiver-like speed.

Right off the bat, he caught a short pass over the middle and took it 45 yards to set up Marshawn Lynch’s touchdown run. The tight end finished the first