Oakland Raiders Film Review: Derek Carr’s touchdowns and interceptions

Week 4 at Indianapolis Colts

The roller coaster ride is currently ascending, as Carr’s last performance against the Colts gives reason for optimism. Unlike in week three, statistically the passer wasn’t that impressive as he finished with a completion percentage of 67.7, 198 passing yards and two touchdowns.

While the stat sheet certainly doesn’t jump of the page, the two plays below give plenty of reason to be excited about what the gunslinger can do moving forward.

Coming into the game, Indy had a handful of injuries which left the team thin at linebacker and missing arguably its best player on defense, safety Malik Hooker. Gruden clearly wanted to target this weakness because on this play he sends both tight ends deep, forcing safety Clayton Geathers (26) to choose which one to cover. Indianapolis is playing cover two here, which means Geathers has little to no linebacker support on deep routes.

Instead of picking one tight end to cover, Geathers sits in no man’s land and Carr has two options for a touchdown. The quarterback goes with the safer throw to Moreau, and more great ball placement leads to points on the opening drive of the game.

Again we see good decision-making and a good throw by the Raiders signal caller.

Here Carr takes advantage of another matchup miss-match. The Colts have backup corner Quincy Wilson (31) in the game and he is left on an island to cover the Raiders number one receiver, Williams. The route by Hunter Renfrow (13) from the slot ensures the Silver and Black are able to keep this matchup advantage.

Renfrow keeps his shoulders down while running his route which gives the safety, Dante Jackson (37), the illusion that the receiver’s route going vertical and forces Jackson to stay in the middle of the field. Since he has to make sure the slot receiver isn’t a vertical threat, the safety can’t help Wilson in coverage.

Carr takes advantage of the favorable matchup by tossing a perfect back shoulder throw towards the front pylon of the end zone, Williams adjusts to the ball and Oakland goes up by two scores.

With these plays, there seems to be a common theme. When Carr reads the defense and trusts his arm talent, he is successful and the offense looks like a well oiled machine. However, when he predetermined his throw and doesn’t make adjustments post snap, the gunslinger runs into trouble.

Ending the first quarter of the season on a high note in Indianapolis has to give Carr confidence for the rest of the season. The question is, will that confidence translate to more consistent play throughout the year? If not, Gruden might be looking for a new neighbor in Las Vegas.