Las Vegas Raiders: Studs and Duds from 2021 Week 4 vs. Chargers
Las Vegas Raiders: Studs and Duds from 2021 Week 4 vs. Chargers
Studs – Second half Derek Carr
Derek Carr has been a man of two halves this year. The Raiders offense as a whole has been struggling in first halves and that of course starts with the quarterback. This week he was stripped in the pocket yet again and made some questionable decisions in checking the ball down perhaps too early and not taking off when he had time.
The first-half struggles were tough to watch as Carr was running for his life on most passing plays and was just not connecting with his receivers.
Then, as has been the case all year, the Raiders’ offense came alive in the second half. Carr hit on his first seven passes of the second half and marched the Raiders up and down the field to come within one score by the start of the fourth quarter. The movement of the offense helped swing momentum in favor of the Raiders and the defense responded with some big plays as well.
Once he got rolling, Carr was able to distribute the ball to several different targets and made perfect throws to Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller in the end zone. He also hit two big plays to Henry Ruggs though perhaps if he had gotten more air under each pass they would have been touchdowns rather than a pass interference and a long completion.
The performance obviously wasn’t perfect even in the second half as he took a questionable sack as the Raiders were driving to tie the game and overthrew Ruggs as he was rolling to his right. That connection is starting to blossom and we have seen them hit several big plays but as we saw today, there is still work for both parties to make that connection even stronger.
dark. Next. 4 reasonable expectations for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 Week 4
There was some temptation to put Car in the dud category but given the cards he has been dealt with the offensive line, it would be unfair to do so. He was under pressure all game long and on the two touchdowns he threw, he was able to extend the play and make the killer pass.
We feel like a broken record at this point but the Raiders need to figure out a way to keep him upright if they are going to be a serious contender this season. He’s playing at an extremely high level and the big boys in front of him need to get with the program.