Late field goal hands Oakland 4th loss in row
Carr accepts blame for an offense stuck in slow lane
Missed extra point crucial; Raiders now sit in last place.
OAKLAND >> There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Raiders’ 17-16 loss to the Chargers Sunday and their surprising, but well-deserved, 2-4 record.
You can blame the Raiders’ defense for not stopping Chargers running back Melvin Gordon on third down with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter.
You can blame the Raiders’ long snapper, Jon Condo, for his errant point-after delivery after the Raiders’ second touchdown, or kicker Giorgio Tavecchio, for missing the extra point that proved to be the difference.
You can blame head coach Jack Del Rio, or offensive coordinator Todd Downing, or the referees for Sunday’s loss, too.
But Raiders quarterback Derek Carr prefers that you blame him.
“At the end of the day, this is my fault. This is all on me,” Carr said after his 21of-30, 171-yard, one-touchdown, two-interception performance in which only six of his passes went further than six yards.
And you know what? He’s right. You should blame Carr for Sunday’s loss and the Raiders’ early season struggles.
After Sunday’s loss, Carr admitted the truth that has been clear since the preseason: This Raiders team is “going to go as I go”.
And right now, Carr’s game is in reverse and he’s not showing any signs he knows where the stick shift is.
In turn, the Raiders’ team is having a crisis of confidence and its season has reached a point of desperation well before the schedule’s halfway mark.
Carr isn’t blaming his back — which currently has three transverse process fractures — for his dink-and-dunk dud on Sunday, and I won’t do it for him.
Carr isn’t blaming Downing’s play calls for the Raiders’ offensive problems either, and I won’t contradict
him on that either.
There’s no evidence or testimony to indicate that Carr was truly limited by either scheme or injury Sunday.
No, he was limited by the same things that have limited him his entire career — a lack of poise in the pocket and an aversion (or downright ignorance towards) the big play.
Carr has always been keen to “take what the defense gives him”, and defenses have figured out exactly what to give him: zone coverages that keep the play in front of the defense and dare the 26-year-old quarterback to beat them with laserlike downfield throws.
Carr has shown he can make those throws against soft defenses in the past — particularly in late-game situations — but those defense-carvers were supposed to be the new normal for the Fresno State product after he signed a $125 million deal this past offseason.
But Carr has only one completion beyond 15 yards in his last three starts.
He’s playing passive, game-manager football, but he’s making too many mistakes (four interceptions in his last three starts) to come out as a net-zero.
As such, this Raiders’ offense — which entered the season with so much promise — is lifeless, disorganized, and downright boring right now.
Anytime this bend-but-don’t-break Raiders defense holds an opponent under 20 points, it should be an automatic victory — this season Oakland has already dropped two such games.
Defenses aren’t going to stop daring Carr. Kansas City is going to rush three and drop eight all night when the teams play Thursday, and the plays that Downing calls are going to continue to give Carr windows to make those defenses pay (whether you want to admit it or not, the windows are there).
Will Carr find it in himself to make those throws — those passes that he has more than enough arm talent and time to complete? If he does, starting Thursday, this Raiders team still very much alive for a playoff spot.
If not, expect October’s poor form to carry over into November and December and for this season to be a waste.
Carr might not be the only one who put the Raiders in this precarious spot, but the Raiders can’t pull themselves out of this tailspin without Carr playing well.
Football is a complicated game, but in this case, things are simple: this Raiders’ season really does ride on Carr’s play.