Busters
QB Derek Carr
Every time it seemed like the Raiders might make something happen, things would fall short or fall apart. Their first drive looked great and the connection between Carr and Davante Adams was off to a great start. But in goal-to-go, Carr would throw too high for Adams and then behind Darren Waller and they would settle for a field goal. And a collective ‘here we go again’ for a team that has long had red zone issues.
The Raiders would get the ball with 1:38 left in the second quarter. On the first play, Carr held onto the ball too long and was sacked. The next play he threw over the middle for Darren Waller only to have Drue Tranquill pick it off. Now instead of the Raiders scoring before the half, the Chargers did, driving for a touchdown in two plays.
Down 17-3 to start the third quarter, Carr finally put together a touchdown drive, finishing it off with a nifty pass over the shoulder of Brandon Bolden for the score. But the Chargers answered with a touchdown drive of their own to bring it back to a two-score game.
Overcoming an 11-point deficit to begin the 4th quarter seemed very doable. But it got less and less likely with every possession.
Two big completions put the Raiders in Chargers’ territory. Then Carr saw Adams break open deep and threw for him. The pass fell short and was picked off by Asante Samuel Jr who wasn’t even covering Adams but came off his man and had time to swoop over and get it.
The Raiders’ defense held and Carr came back out and on the second play threw another interception. Carr and the Raiders caught a break with the Chargers missing a field goal to keep things in reach.
With some timely tough running by Josh Jacobs and Carr’s best pass of the day for 31 yards to Darren Waller, they were in first and goal. A play later, Carr’s buddy Davante would do him a solid by stretching out to snag his wide pass for a touchdown. But down five, they needed to go for two and Carr’s pass for Hunter Renfrow was broken up in the back of the end zone.
After the defense once again stepped up to give Carr another shot, this time he couldn’t capitalize. On third-and-three, he held the ball too long and was sacked, fumbling the ball which John Simpson recovered. On fourth-and-eight, he was sacked again and fumbled again. Not that it would have mattered if the fumble was lost because it was a turnover regardless. And a game-ending one at that.
S Tre’von Moehrig
The Chargers’ first touchdown drive featured two big catches back-to-back. In both instances Moehrig was not in position to make the stop. The same was the case on their second touchdown with Herbert fitting the pass in right between Moehrig and Divine Deablo for the score.
Moehrig wouldn’t break up any passes or have coverage on any incompletions and finished with just two tackles on the day.
RT Jermaine Eluemunor, LT Kolton Miller
The Raiders gave up six sacks in this game, five of which were on Derek Carr. That doesn’t mean Eluemunor and Miller were to blame for all those sacks, in fact, most of them were not their fault. Two of them were mainly due to Carr holding onto the ball too long.
Then again, it’s not always about sacks. On the first drive, Eluemunor gave up a pressure that led to a dump-off that was stopped for one yard. And a couple of drives later, Khalil Mack bull-rushed him back into Carr’s lap and sacked him.
Late in the first quarter, Carr held onto it a bit too long and Mack got the inside on Miller to get the sack.
After pulling to within five on a late touchdown, the Raiders went for two to try and make it a three-point game. Their attempt would move out to the six-yard line after Eluemunor jumped early and was called for a false start.
On the next drive, the Raiders found themselves in fourth and eight and Miller gave up the sack by Mack again. His third of the game and the Raiders’ hopes ended there.
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