Oakland Raiders 2019 Week 13 review: 3 stars, 3 duds

1. Derek Carr

Woof, that’s about it. Could this be the final nail in the coffin that sees Derek Carr’s six season’s with the Silver and Black come to a close? It was the biggest game of the season by a country mile, and Carr came out and made multiple huge mistakes and looked more like a rookie that a six-year veteran who has been in these situations before.

Don’t let the stat line fool you, most of his production came in garbage time, where he hit dump off after dump off and racked up yardage and saved his completion percentage a bit. But when it counted, Carr did not get it done. Carr threw two interceptions, one that was taken the other way for a touchdown, and seemed nonchalant about it in the post game press conference.

Chiefs’ safety Tyrann Mathieu even came out and said it was telegraphed, that Carr was easy to read when he was trying to push it downfield. That has been a common issue as Carr tends to stare down his targets, allowing defenses to jump his throws. His day is best summed up by his inability to hit Josh Jacobs who was literally doing jumping jacks with acres of space to Carr’s left.

Carr did not do much of anything positive on Sunday and deserves criticism, even from the staunchest of his supporters like myself.

2. Trevor Davis

Don’t be surprised if Davis ends up on another roster at some point this week. Honestly, there were several plays that culminated in his benching, which begs the question why he was even given enough chances to make multiple mistakes. Since being traded for Davis has been a relative non-factor, but yesterday he was a detriment.

With an unfortunate fumble on the second kick return of the game Davis put the Chiefs in a prime position to jump out to a quick 14-0 lead. The defense bailed Davis out, but a short while later Davis did his best Trent Richardson impersonation on a crucial 4th and 1, taking the ball outside while running into his teammate rather than cutting upfield to pick up the first down and more.

That was a huge turning point in the game and, rightfully, Davis did not see the field again in Sunday’s contest.

3. Raiders’ Wide Receivers

Cut them all. No, seriously, don’t bring any of them back besides Hunter Renfrow of course. Prior to the Raiders’ garbage time drives, Zay Jones was the only receiver with a reception. That is embarrassing on so many levels.

Tyrell Williams, Keelan Doss, Jones, and Davis were all horrible on Sunday. Let’s abscond Doss as this was his first real chance and Carr couldn’t get the ball to him if he was standing alone with no defender within 20 yards.

But the rest of them had minimal impact against the Chiefs, and their lack of production was not out of the ordinary. This receivers group may be the worst the franchise has had in many years, and that isn’t hyperbole. It honestly would not be surprising to see Renfrow be the only returning member of this year’s group.

Honorable Mention: Daniel Carlson

Yikes. I know it was windy but what was that field goal attempt? Daniel Carlson has been trending down in recent weeks and that trend is worrisome. Hopefully he figures it out over the last four games of the season.