Buster: QB Derek Carr

Carr likes to talk about how much improvement he’s showing based on his stats. For instance, he had his first 300-yard game of the season in this game. On paper it looked great. But the paper doesn’t show all the missed plays that killed scoring opportunities.

The first drive as one. On third and one from the Denver 20-yard-line, Hunter Renfrow got open and Carr simply overthrew him. Renfrow laid out but couldn’t get to it. Daniel Carlson would miss the 39-yard attempt and the Raiders were froze out of what should have been a touchdown drive.

The huge play by Waller off the screen would set the Raiders up in scoring position again. They even got another first down off a Broncos holding penalty. But that too ended with a field goal attempt. This time Carlson made the chip shot so it wasn’t a complete loss. It was the only points the Raiders would put up until the fourth quarter.

DeAndre Washington would break off a 36-yard run to lead out the third quarter. Carr would fumble the snap on the next play and two plays later they would have to punt it away. The next possession would end in a three-and-out with Carr overthrowing Darren Waller up the right sideline on third and two.

The final possession of the third quarter for the Raiders was another three-and-out. On third and 3, Carr saw a blitzing cornerback on the left side and ran right to escape him before giving up on it and throwing the ball into the turf. Had he kept the play alive, he would have had a couple options. Just an instant more and he may have seen Renfrow was about to break open on a cross right in front of him. Or Carr may have been able to escape and run for the first down. Even if he was unable to pick it up, it would have yielded the same results.

Early in the fourth, Carr was able to get things moving and once again the Raiders were in the red zone. Then on third and 16, he missed a wide-open DeAndre Washington out left, opting instead to throw for Derek Carrier with two defenders around him for four yards. They settled for the field goal and their first points since early in the second quarter.

One of the worst plays of the day for Carr actually ended up going for 39 yards. But it was Hunter Renfrow who made it happen. Renfrow was wide open and running into more open space. All Carr had to do was throw it to him and he was gone, very likely for a touchdown. Even if the pass not in stride and Renfrow had to slow down a bit would have sufficed.

Instead, Carr’s pass was well short, forcing Renfrow to make a sliding catch and get up and run for it. By that time, the Broncos DBs got over there and made the stop. The final ten yards of the play were after Renfrow lateraled to Marcell Atemen.

With just over five minutes left in the game, down ten, what the Raiders needed was a touchdown to make it a three-point game. What they got was two more minutes drained off the clock and another field goal which meant the responsibility would be on the defense to make a quick stop and then for the offense to drive for a touchdown.

The defense held up their end, giving the offense another shot. With 2;45 left in the game, the offense would go four-and-out to turn it over on downs. The Broncos would get the ball at the Oakland 27 yard line, needing only to run some clock and kick a field goal to put the game away. Or just get the first down and kneel it out.

The defense stepped up again to keep the Broncos from simply picking up a first down and kneeling out the clock. Then the Raiders got a stroke of luck as on third and 8 Broncos offensive lineman Garrett Bolles was flagged for unnecessary roughness. It turned a 42-yard field goal into a 57-yard attempt and Brandon McManus’s attempt missed just wide right.

When the Raiders got the ball back, they had all been notified via the jumbotron that the Titans has beaten the Texans, so the playoffs were no longer in play. With no pressure, Carr drove the Raiders down the field — with the help of a Broncos unsportsmanlike conduct penalty — to score the touchdown. Gruden went for the win and Carr’s pass was batted down at the line.

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