Storyline: Derek Carr had a record-breaking game against Tampa Bay and the Raiders are winning again consistently. But yellow flags are flying against Oakland–just like always.
The Oakland Raiders game in Tampa Bay was a historical event. The Raiders thrilling 30-24 overtime win gave them a 5-0 record of the road to start the season.
Courtesy: Oakland Raiders
Not since 1977 has the team achieved such a feat. The previous 45 teams to start 5-0 on the road all made the playoffs. The Raiders were also on the bad side of history; they were flagged for a NFL-record 23 times for 200 yards in a game they somehow still won.
I rant about the officials every week and I’ll have more to say later regarding the flurry of flags, but first I’m going to focus on the records that really matter to Raider Nation.
The record QB Derek Carr broke came by his flinging the ball all over the Tampa Bay secondary. Carr was 40 of 59 for a franchise record 513 yards with four TDs and no interceptions.
Only two other QBs–Y.A. Tittle in 1962 and Ben Roethlisberger in 2014–have recorded such a huge game with no picks. And Carr’s 379 passing yards after halftime were the most by a QB in the last 30 years.
It was a remarkable game by the rising star. And with the Raiders sitting at 6-2 and leading the AFC West, that performance puts him right in the middle of league MVP discussions. It seems like only yesterday that Carr was 0-10 and the Raiders were going nowhere with an interim coach and an 11th straight losing season.
How did the Nation and Carr end up here so fast? When Carr made his rookie debut he easily passed the eye test. His rapid-fire release and rifle arm were apparent from the outset. Plus Carr had prototypical size and athleticism.
Derek Carr threw for over 500 yds. in Raiders’ OT win against Tampa Bay (photo, thescore.com)
Carr excelled when he started the final preseason game in that rookie season. Carr blitzed Seattle and was named the Raiders’ starting QB.
Starting a rookie QB on a team with little talent is always dangerous, not only for the team’s record, but also for a QB’s psyche. However, Carr persevered through that 3-13 season and it looks to have toughened him up quite a bit.
Carr chose his #4 jersey to honor his idol, Brett Favre, and a lot of people described him as a ‘gunslinger’ because of his strong arm. I didn’t quite see that side of him during his rookie year. Carr seemed ultra-cautious, often getting rid of the ball too fast to avoid pressure. He didn’t let plays develop.
Experts questioned Carr’s potential because of his feeble yards-per-attempt, 5.5, and low completion percentage, 58.1. There seemed to be more doubters than Carr supporters. Personally, I wasn’t as positive as I was hopeful.
The 2014 Raiders team had no playmakers on the outside and a non-existent running game. Oakland switched coaches four games into the season. Carr didn’t make a lot of big plays but, as a rookie QB on a dreadful team, he was also the one guy I didn’t worry about each week. He didn’t take sacks, didn’t turn the ball over a lot, and just seemed to have the poise of a professional QB.
NBCBayarea.com
Give him some receivers and some support and this kid might just have a chance I thought. I didn’t think the experts considered what a truly bad team the Raiders were in 2014 (a 52-0 loss to the freaking Rams!), but they still went 3-3 to end the year.
After a year and a half of success–in 2015 and now in 2016–the experts are praising the Carr. It’s impossible to do otherwise after a game like Sunday in Tampa.
Carr has weapons on the outside, a solid running game, and one of the league’s best offensive lines. He is taking full advantage of what surrounds him and, because of that, he’s playing close to elite level. I say ‘close’ because being elite in the NFL is earned in December and January.
But I do believe in Derek Carr and I also believe that The Nation should be grateful. Not since Kenny “Snake” Stabler in the ’70s have the Raiders had a homegrown QB playing at this level. Rejoice Raider Nation! Having Carr means we always having a chance.
Game Day Observations. The QB threw for a franchise record 513 yards, but his receivers were a large part of it with yards after catch (YAC). Amari Cooper is always a huge threat with the ball in his hands and he scampered for YAC all day long. Michael Crabtree made a huge 45-yard gain in OT — almost all on his own. And the game winner saw Seth Roberts make a defender miss as he sprinted 30 YAC for the walk-off TD.
Courtesy: Raiders.com
With all the noise about Carr, the defensive effort got lot lost in the shuffle. Khalil Mack was back to his 2015 dominant self. He had two sacks, a superb 10 QB pressures, and he almost won the game with a forced fumble in OT.
The secondary lost CB Sean Smith early to injury, but kept Bucs’ QB Jameis Winston in check with 180 yards. In fact, the Raiders gave up a season low 270 yards to Tampa and forced three straight three-and-outs to close the game.
Now let’s talk about those referees! A whopping 23 penalties called on Oakland is simply insane, especially when compared to six called on Tampa. A lot of those flags were the Raiders’ fault, for sure. The 12 men on the defense twice in the same drive is an epic fail. All the illegal formations and false starts must be cleaned up, too.
But I still find in unbelievable that the Raiders–by all accounts the better team on Sunday–committed four times more infractions than the Bucs.
Courtesy: Quora
For years I’ve been raging about referee bias against the Raiders. No matter the coach or talent level the Raiders are constantly among the league leaders in penalties. ESPN says that since 2000 the Raiders have had 200 more penalties than any other team.
This year Oakland has 20 more penalties than any other team. That number includes 33 pre-snap penalties, 67 during they play, and 3 post-play calls. The most common penalty is holding (28 called), which is the most subjective penalty … and probably could be called on every play.
The Raiders, even with a top-performing line, leads the league in holding calls, hmmmmmmmm?
During the game the announcers said that Jack Del Rio’s Jacksonville teams were the 2nd least penalized team in the league. And that feat was accomplished over a decade. Ten years is a pretty nice sample size. But now Del Rio is in Oakland and his team suddenly has no discipline for two years straight?!
I’m convinced it will never stop.
I thought that Raiders’ penalties would fall back to the mean after Al Davis passed, but it appears I was wrong. Maybe there’s no conspiracy theory here, but there’s also no doubt of this: once a player dons the Silver & Black he’s also going to earn his fair share of yellow.
Player of the Game: It’s Derek Carr. Did you even have to ask?
