Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts: 3 Studs, 3 Duds in Week 17
Duds
Derek Carr
I know I already mentioned that this was Derek Carr’s 29th career game-winning drive at the beginning of this post, but just like the past two weeks, Carr was mostly a detriment to his team, and The Raiders were pretty lucky to come away with this victory. Now I will never apologize for a win because as the late, great Al Davis once said “Just Win Baby,” but the defense played well enough to cover up Carr’s mistakes.
Carr had an underthrow to DeSean Jackson that got picked off, and then just a terrible throw to Zay Jones that was intercepted by All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard that almost crushed the Raiders playoff hopes. Carr finished the game with 255 yards one touchdown and those two interceptions.
Alex Leatherwood
It had really seemed like Alex Leatherwood was turning it around. After being a turnstile and a penalty machine for the most part of the season, the last two weeks had been some of Leatherwood’s best performances of the year, and his grades from PFF backed it up. However, in this game he once again had a costly penalty while the Raiders were in a good position in the red zone, and Carr was overall in a bunch of pressure situations even though he only ended up getting sacked twice.
DeSean Jackson
Since joining the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9, DeSean Jackson has had only two impactful weeks, one in a good way, and one in a bad way. In that Week 9 game against the Chiefs, he had a fumble which cost the Raiders a touchdown, then against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Night, Jackson had a big game, including a first drive 50-yard touchdown catch.
In this game, Desean Jackson only had one reception for five yards.
Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts: 3 things we learned in Week 17
The Las Vegas Raiders kept their playoff hopes alive in Week 17, and here are three things we learned from the win over the Indianapolis Colts.
One target toward him was an underthrown ball by Carr, and a good defensive play by the defensive back resulted in an interception, but as a player who was brought in as a deep threat replacement, he hasn’t really brought that to the team quite yet.