Las Vegas Raiders: Derek Carr again comes through in the clutch

Las Vegas Raiders: Derek Carr again comes through in the clutch

How did Derek Carr and the offense deliver?

As we have seen many times in his career, Derek Carr is at his best when the pressure is on and the Raiders need a score to tie or take the lead. Usually this comes in a two-minute drill, but against the Panthers, the Raiders had plenty of time to move the ball down the field after going down late thanks to a Robby Anderson touchdown.

The Raiders got the ball back with 8:29 left in the game and marched down the field with a nice mix of runs and short passes that the running backs did a great job of turning in to big gains. Carr excels at extending plays in these situations and finding targets underneath in space and giving them the space to break loose.

They moved from the Las Vegas 25 to the Carolina 37-yard line exclusively on short throws to both Josh Jacobs and Devontae Booker that they extended into big gains. They were the sort of throws that Carr’s critics lambast him for, but in a situation like that with so much space underneath, why not take what the defense gives you and keep moving the chains?

The next big play in the drive was a pass interference penalty on former Raiders linebacker Tahir Whitehead that was drawn by Carr taking a shot downfield to Hunter Renfrow. It was shortly followed by a quick strike to Darren Waller and a great touchdown run by Jacobs to give the Raiders the lead for good.

It was a classic drive by Carr where he dinked and dunked all the way down the field, using his tremendous offensive line to let plays develop, and giving his receivers space to run after the catch. The Raider defense needed to step up to seal the game for good but it wasn’t possible without that drive lead by Carr.