Carr looks to boost Arrowhead output
The list of Raiders quarterbacks to win a game at Arrowhead Stadium includes such franchise luminaries as Ken Stabler, Jim Plunkett and Daryle Lamonica.
It also includes Rich Gannon, who won there three times, Carson Palmer, Jason Campbell and, yes, JaMarcus Russell.
It does not, as yet, include Derek Carr, who did not hesitate when asked where a win at Kansas City ranks on his career to-do list.
“Definitely number one right now,” Carr said. “Especially this week.”
For the Raiders, Sunday would be an opportune time for Carr to complete that task in a stadium where he has not played well. Tied at 6-6 with the Chiefs and Chargers atop the AFC West, the Raiders would at least maintain a share of the division lead with a win in Kansas City, Mo.
The Raiders’ last win at Arrowhead Stadium came on Oct. 28, 2012. In his three career games in Kansas City, including one played last season with an injured pinkie on his throwing hand, Carr has completed just 50 percent of his throws
(65-for-130) for an average of 177.7 yards and three total touchdowns. The Raiders have averaged 14.3 points in those games.
Carr does have several factors this time working in his favor.
One is a Raiders running game that has been much more productive over the past three games, averaging 110.7 yards compared to 87.6 yards in the first nine games of the season.
Two of those three games came against last-place teams in the Broncos and Giants. Yet, those around the Raiders maintain that running back Marshawn Lynch has appeared vitalized since returning from his one-game suspension in Week 8, and the offensive line is playing better after an uneven first half.
Asked about the improved rushing totals, left tackle Donald Penn said: “I think y’all want me to say we reinvented this whole wheel. We didn’t.
“We’re doing the same stuff we’ve been doing, it’s just flowing and opening up better. We ain’t calling no new plays. Stuff ’s just flowing, and it’s flowing good.”
Offensive coordinator Todd Downing said the team’s bye week gave the staff a chance to pare down the running game and highlight plays that had worked well in the first half. A beneficiary has been Lynch, who is averaging 4.4 yards per carry in his past three games and broke out his longest run of the season, a 51-yard touchdown burst, last weekend against the Giants.
“It’s been good to see him develop that chemistry and that patience with some of the scheme,” Downing said. “I think it’s a combination of him and the offensive line really moving that line of scrimmage, giving him a little bit more of an avenue toward some of those holes. So, excited to see that trending in the right direction.”
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have struggled to defend the run, allowing an average of 137.6 rushing yards while losing six of their past seven games. Their only opponent not to break the 100-yard mark in that stretch was the Raiders in Week 7 — when Carr threw for 417 yards in a 31-30 win in Oakland.
After playing last weekend without his top two receivers, Carr will have Michael Crabtree back from suspension Sunday and could regain Amari Cooper, who — after sitting out last Sunday’s game with a concussion — practiced Friday despite an ankle injury. Carr will also have tight end Jared Cook, who caught six passes for 107 yards in Week 7, and receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who had 97 receiving yards against the Giants on four catches.
Carr may need them to subdue one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL. Head coach Jack Del Rio credited the Chiefs for doing “a great job with creating an atmosphere there” that is difficult on opposing offensive lines and signal-callers.
“You’ve got to be able to have poise in the noise,” Del Rio said. “That’s part of it.”
Each day in practice during the week, as players convened for team drills, the Raiders began pumping crowd noise and chanting across their fields in Alameda. Carr, for one, said he doesn’t mind the noise in Kansas City.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say I enjoy going to their stadium, but I do,” Carr said. “It’s loud, it’s fun. … I like playing in the noise because you’re in your own little zone.
“I do enjoy going there. But it would feel a lot better afterwards if we could win a game.”