Oakland Raiders Can Upset the Arizona Cardinals

Aug 28, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) gestures during the game against the Seattle Seahawks at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

 Big Concern

One big concern I have about this game for the Raiders is the fact the Carr hasn’t been the best against the blitz. The reason for this concern is the Cardinals blitz the second most often in the NFL and they bring a lot of guys at a time. No, I don’t buy into all the fold-under-pressure scouting reports coming out of school for Carr because he has shown he’s poised already.

But no matter how poised he may be, Carr is a rookie quarterback that’s seeing a lot of things for the first time in his life. And with all the looks that defensive coordinators show to rookie quarterbacks, the pre-snap read is what gets them in trouble. If the correct pre-snap read isn’t made, the wrong protection is called and there’s someone the quarterback didn’t expect with a free run at him.

A lot of how well the quarterback is protected is on the quarterback and Carr obviously doesn’t see the game like Tom Brady does yet. But last Sunday was a good sign of how far Carr has come with making his checks as he wasn’t sacked in the game. Rivers said of Carr in an interview after the game, “He was efficient. You can’t tell he was making some checks and doing some things at the line with a lot of our blitzes and stuff and doing a nice job.”