Raider Rewind: Derek Carr Balls Out, Oakland Survives At Home Against Lions

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
7 Min Read
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

It’s about dang time that Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden starts getting some credit around here, alright? The coach who is more often found in meme form than he is receiving his due has taken a team injured at every level and led them through a gauntlet of an opening half-season with a borderline miraculous 4-4 record.

The latest? A win against the Detroit Lions in which the Raiders did just enough to squeak out the victory after the Lions’ final drive stalled at the 1-yard line with just a couple of ticks left on the clock. So, as always, having re-watched the game, here are my takeaways:

Derek Carr Straight Slingin’ It

This might not have been Derek Carr‘s best game statistically, but in every other facet it’s hard to imagine him playing much better. Despite missing center Rodney Hudson and losing tackle Trent Brown just minutes into the game, Carr handled the rush (and a handful of low snaps) to perfection — finishing 20-of-31 for 289 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

But honestly? That doesn’t even come close to doing it justice. I mean, just look at these throws:

Insane. People have questioned and doubted Carr for the past 12 months — and I’m not even saying it was unfair — but how anyone who is even remotely open-minded could say this guy doesn’t have what it takes to be the quarterback of the Raiders moving forward is beyond me.

Defense plays opportunistic football, barely survives

I said in my preview that turnovers were going to be especially important for a Raiders defense that has struggled (to put it lightly). Well? They came up with two turnovers backed up against their own end zone, and that was the difference in this one.

Besides the turnovers, though? WOOF.

I’ve never seen a team give up more big yardage plays when it feels like they’ve finally put themselves in a decent position. Maybe I’m alone, but I’d rather the defense face a third-and-four than a third-and-thirteen because it just feels like the big play is right around the corner.

This group is obviously young and banged up, so there are some legitimate excuses for defensive coordinator Paul Guenther — but if this team is serious about making a darkhorse push for the playoffs this unit needs to tighten up a bit.

Karl Joseph, defensive play of the season

With one play left, the Lions were at Oakland’s 1-yard line and I’m imagining there wasn’t a whole lot of optimism within the Coliseum about whether the Raiders defense could get the stop they need.

After a play-action fake, Stafford rolled left and was pressured by rookie Clelin Ferrell before launching a ball towards the back of the end zone where tight end Logan Thomas was waiting. Thomas, who is 6’7″, did his best to box out the 5’9″ Karl Joseph — but to no avail, as the latter put his body on the line, essentially executing a front-flip while knocking the ball away to clinch the Raider victory.

After letting one slip away in Houston last week, the Raiders desperately needed this one — and Joseph made the play when he needed to.

Offense was really good — but far from perfect

With 14:52 left in the game, the Raiders took a 24-17 lead thanks to a nice link-up between Carr and rookie tight end Foster Moreau. On the next two defensive drives, the Raiders did what they needed to do and forced a pair of punts — the first two Detroit punts of the game.

Now, with the ball back, all the offense needed to do was run some clock, score some points and finish this game off. Except….they didn’t.

The first drive lasted just three plays and netted -7 yards while running off a total of 1:23. The second? Three plays, seven yards and 1:29 off the clock.

This led to Detroit getting the ball back and marching down the field to tie the game. But just think, the Raiders defense, which has been brutal finally gets two stops in the fourth quarter and the offense just couldn’t capitalize. That cannot happen.

Part of the problem I think was the running game wore down in the second half, gaining just 44 yards on 14 attempts after halftime. When you consider that the offensive line was down two key pieces, that makes some sense — but it definitely made closing this game out harder than it needed to be.

Next up: Chargers on a short week

We’ll have a full preview coming later this week, but let’s just say this game doesn’t feel as easy as it did 48 hours ago. The Los Angeles Chargers are coming off an utterly dominating performance against the Green Bay Packers — bringing their record to 4-5 on the season before they travel up north for a Thursday night matchup.

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a small newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Raiders and Dodgers since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNewswire.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Raider This one is an easy one for me: Charles Woodson. When the Raiders drafted him, there was nothing to dislike about the guy — he was exciting and he was freaking good. Unfortunately, of course, he left after eight seasons — but when he returned in 2013 it was one of the better Raider moments of my lifetime. At that point, I didn't care how washed he was (and he wasn't!) — I just liked having him back in the silver and black. Obviously Tim Brown is another guy that was easy to love, but Woodson is the all-timer for me. As far as current, I'm still a believer in Derek Carr and think he's going to figure this all out. Favorite Raider Moment I think I'll go with the two weeks leading up to the 2001 Super Bowl. As a kid, I remember getting the newspaper every morning to read what they were talking about, clipping out the articles to keep for later. It was obviously far more exciting than the Super Bowl itself, but I'll never forget those moments of hope leading up to the Super Bowl. I referenced it above, but second to that was probably the return of Charles Woodson in 2013 — I just loved the guy, and never dreamed he'd actually come back.
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