Raiders won’t take the next step until they move on from Derek Carr
Raiders won’t take the next step until they move on from Derek Carr
The Bad
More often than not there is a catch-22 to most good things, especially when it comes to Raiders success. Most notable is that since they’ve been playing better, the letdown hurts even worse the more it happens, and boy has it happened.
It seems as if this year’s woes of blowing three 17-point leads when the franchise has only done that five total times prior, is icing on the heartbreak cake.
I think it is fair to note that Derek Carr hasn’t been the same since he broke his leg, and that’s completely understandable. But one of the biggest things that opposing teams say about him and that has been a caveat to his game is that he gets timid and bothered in the pocket if you can hit him a couple times.
Some go as far as to say he’s soft. Few quarterbacks don’t think twice about getting hit by the big men on the defensive line, but nonetheless, opposing teams feel like they have a weakness they can exploit.
Remember when I mentioned both sides had stats to back up their argument? Well, the ones on the prosecution’s side are just as bad as the good ones are good. The most frustrating and damning evidence against him: is his red zone woes.
Over the last few years, it always seemed like the Raiders could do whatever they wanted between the 20-yard lines. The real struggles start when consistency was needed the most: in the red zone. No matter whether they were 19 yards away or 1 yard away, you always had somewhat of an uneasy feeling of “how are we going to screw this one up this time”.
Thursday Night against the Rams marked the 14th time that Derek Carr has thrown an interception in the red zone. That puts him tied with three other quarterbacks for the most red zone interceptions in NFL history: Ryan Tannehill, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Phillip Rivers. Whether it’s turning the ball over or stalling out in the red zone, there’s no denying Derek Carr has had his struggles.
In his nine-year career thus far, he has only ranked in the top 15 in red zone passer rating two times and has ranked outside the top 20 five times including this season where he ranks 32nd of 33 qualifiers with a 71.5 passer rating. He is also dead last this year in the NFL of all starting quarterbacks in red zone completion percentage at 40.4% and the only starting quarterback who has yet to be sacked inside the red zone so far this season.
Once again though, take away all the depressing stats, and let’s just use the eyeball test. Over and over again we’ve seen him not scramble when he should have, throw the ball away on third down, miss a guy downfield when he’s been accurate all game, and just downright look like he’s giving up on the play because the first read wasn’t there and was fine settling for the points.
There is a reason why our kicker has continually ranked as one of the top scorers on the team year after year. There is a reason why even though the Raiders are on their fourth coach in the nine seasons that Carr has started, they still continue to struggle in the red zone.
We have gotten to a point where the weapons have changed, the scheme has changed, and the coaching has changed, yet one constant remains the same. The 40-million-dollar question is: Will they address it sooner than later?