Riding with some momentum, the Oakland Raiders headed to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers coming off their bye in Week 7. Oakland’s modest two-game winning streak was snapped, however, falling to the Packers, 42-24.
It was a rough afternoon for the Raiders as they were not able to stop Aaron Rodgers, who has found his rhythm throwing the ball the past few weeks. Although Oakland was able to come up with some huge plays to get them into scoring position, they were unable to capitalize on several opportunities to keep them in the game.
One such play was in the final two minutes of the first half. Derek Carr and his offense were deep in the red zone with a good chance to score but the quarterback scrambled to the goal line where he, unfortunately, fumbled the ball in the end zone, resulting in a touchback.
This play was similar to Carr’s fumble against the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, so it was actually the second time he made the same mistake, According to Scott Bair of NBC Sports, Carr took ownership of his miscue:
“Everyone was patting me on the side of the head like, ‘you’re just trying to make a play,’ and I understand that,” Carr said. “Because of the result as a fumble, it’s the Packers’ ball and that sucks. In that moment, it’s so hard because you’re right there and you’re playing a tough team where you need all the points you can get. It’s so hard not to try. That’s everything I’ve even been about my entire life, is to try.”
The good news is that Carr knows he messed up and that will hopefully keep it from happening again:
“I’ve got to go with two hands, right?” Carr said. “Trying to extend to with one hand isn’t smart. That’s stupid. But, at the end of the day, it’s really hard to, in that situation, while you’re running, I’m not thinking about anything else but getting in the end zone. But it sucks, man. It’s my fault. I let my team down on that.”
This is not the first time that Carr has done this as he was called for a touchback two years ago against the Dallas Cowboys. The veteran signal caller was in prime position to help seal the game for the Raiders before ultimately fumbling and being called for a touchback, effectively ending their playoff hopes that year.
The mistake this time around proved to be costly as well as Rodgers was able to lead his team down the field before finding Jake Kumerow for a score that pushed the Packers lead to 21-10 before halftime. Down by multiple scores, Carr was then able to answer with a couple of huge plays but Green Bay proved to be too much throughout the day as they had an answer every time it seemed Oakland was seizing some momentum.
Carr would finish the day with a decent statline as he threw for 292 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but it is clear that the Silver and Black are still lacking the necessary talent to compete with the elite teams in the league.
There are rumors that the Raiders are likely to be buyers ahead of the NFL’s annual trade deadline and they could use help on both sides of the ball given their struggles to finish drives or prevent big plays.
At 3-3, Oakland is still very much in contention for the AFC West crown but they will need to clean up their issues if they hope to make some postseason noise. They head to Houston to take on the Texans in Week 8.
