Las Vegas Raiders at New York Giants: 5 Things we learned in Week 9

Las Vegas Raiders at New York Giants: 5 Things we learned in Week 9

2: Derek Carr’s Struggles Were All Mental

In the vein of criticizing the team and players for poor performances, the way Derek Carr played on Sunday has to put him in the duds category this week. He looked emotional before kickoff and was surely looking at the endzone where Henry Ruggs made the signature play of his career against the Jets last year and wondering where it all went wrong.

Carr was inaccurate throughout the day and made two crucial mistakes that essentially doomed the Raiders. His first was a throw late to the flat to Hunter Renfrow that was intercepted and returned for a pick-six, and the second was a deep shot to Zay Jones up the sideline that was intercepted as the Raiders were driving late in the game.

The veteran QB was uncharacteristically inaccurate and made some basic mistakes, especially in the red zone, that kept the Raiders from taking control of the game. The most notable was missing Darren Waller wide open in the back of the end zone at the end of the first half when the Raiders had a chance to go up 17-10 before getting the ball back to start the second half.

The Giants’ defensive backfield has lots of talent and they had seven interceptions coming into the game, but this was a winnable game were it not for Carr’s mistakes. He had a rough week as the face of the franchise and his mind was certainly elsewhere in the leadup to the game, but hopefully, he can refocus and get ready for a huge matchup against KC in Week 10.