CARR’S INJURY REALLY “HURTS” RAIDERS’ SHOT
oakland, calif.» As Derek Carr fell to the turf with a broken leg, a celebratory day in Oakland immediately turned somber.
The Raiders had suffered their most significant loss of the season.
Carr broke a bone in his right leg in the fourth quarter of the Raiders’ 33-25 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, immediately throwing a dark cloud over a resurgent season in Oakland.
“Seeing him go down like that, it hurt us,” linebacker Bruce Irvin said. “It didn’t even feel like we won.”
Carr got hurt with Oakland leading 33-14 early in the fourth quarter when he was sacked by Trent Cole. Carr stayed on the ground for several minutes in pain as trainers came out to treat him.
With the crowd chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” Carr limped off the field without putting any pressure on his right leg. He was then taken away on a cart for X-rays which showed the break. Carr will have surgery on Sunday.
Savage looks to improve
B houston» Tom Savage wasn’t great in his first career start in place of Brock Osweiler.
But he didn’t make any major mistakes, and the Texans got a 12-10 win over Cincinnati on Saturday night thanks to a missed field goal as time expired.
Houston clinched a second straight AFC South title. Savage and the Texans know he’ll need to improve if they hope to make a run this postseason.
“I think we can build, and obviously I think it’s a good thing that we protected the ball — not put the defense in a tough situation,” Savage said.
Packers-Lions moved to “SNF”. The NFC North
title showdown between Green Bay and Detroit has been moved to Sunday night on New Year’s Day.
The NFL announced the switch on Christmas Day, and also moved two afternoon games back from 11 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. New Orleans at Atlanta and the New York Giants at Washington.
Green Bay has won five straight games. Detroit plays at Dallas on Monday night before hosting the Packers. Regardless of the outcome of Lions-Cowboys, the game with the Packers will decide the NFC North.
Giants clinch playoffs.
At least now the Giants don’t have to root for the Cowboys.
After Tampa Bay lost to New Orleans on Saturday, New York advanced to the playoffs. Had the Bucs won, the Giants would have needed their archrival from Dallas to beat Detroit on Monday night to secure a postseason berth.
Instead, the Giants are in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, when they won the Super Bowl. They must wait until after the season finales to find out where they will head on Jan. 7 or 8 for a wild-card game.
“There is a process in progressing to your ultimate objective,” said coach Ben McAdoo, who replaced Tom Coughlin this year. “This is the next step in the process.”