Oakland Raiders Film Room: Week 2 (HOU)

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Later in the drive, Carr nearly throws the first Pick-6 of his career. Oakland uses 21 personnel (2 RBs, 1 TE, 2 WRs) and a four verticals concept (4 receivers running deep down the field) against Houston’s 3-4 defense (3 defensive linemen, 4 LBs, 4 DBs) with Cover 3 and a blitz by Texans strong safety D.J. Swearinger. On paper, this should be a beautiful play. The two inside routes should be able to attack the seams, exploiting the deep zone between the free safety in the middle and the corners in the deep outside zones. Carr does a good job at first looking to the right during his drop back and drawing the free safety to that side. However, Raiders TE Mychal Rivera (#81) gets too much of an outside break then stems even further outside before making his cut to the middle of the field, crowding that side of the field and allowing Texans CB Kareem Johnson to cover both deep threats on his side. Carr throws the ball and it’s a fairly easy interception for Johnson, playing perfect technique over the top. If Rivera stemmed to the wide open middle of the field earlier it would have put a much better stretch on CB Johnson’s zone, making an interception much more difficult to accomplish.