Oakland Raiders: Derek Carr A Double Agent In 2015

By Jonathan George | Dec 7, 2015

With the Oakland Raiders loss yesterday to the Kansas City Chiefs, a run to the playoffs in 2015 seems much more like a faint possibility than a real one. With Oakland now several spots back in the wild card race (sitting in the 10th spot officially per sportsillustrated.com’s Chris Burke), QB Derek Carr should take the lion’s share of both the credit and blame for their 5-7 record.

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It really has been a tale of two seasons in 2015 for Carr. When the Raiders have won the game, he has been either the main catalyst or at least one of the biggest reasons why they did. The examples are there for the taking to prove this: the last second comeback against Baltimore with a methodical drive and TD pass. Or the TD pass to beat the Titans with just over minute to go last week.

The fact is that when Carr has been good, he’s been great. But when he’s been off, he’s been the opposing team’s 12th man.

Carr has had some magical moments that have given fans a glimpse into the future for the Raiders. Unfortunately, at least for their playoff chances in 2015, he’s also given them glimpses into his past with some horrible decisions as well.

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Sure, yesterday’s game against the Chiefs may have been the worst this year; three picks, including one pick six and another almost pick six to a Chief’s defensive lineman. Carr was undoubtedly the reason the Raiders lost, and while those types of performances have been more the exception than the rule this season, they still pop up from time to time.

The loss to the Broncos, albeit to maybe the best defense in the NFL this season, is another example of a Carr clinker when the Raiders needed his best. His pick six in that game sealed the loss. His performance against the Vikings wasn’t much better; Carr threw two picks, one at arguably one of the worst times in the game, as the Raiders were driving in the red zone to tie the game with 2 minutes to go.

One just has to look at a simple and straight forward statistic from profootballreference.com to see this: In the Raiders 5 wins, Carr has thrown 15 TD’s and 1 pick amassing a QB rating of 119.1. In Oakland’s 7 losses Carr has thrown 11 TD’s and 8 interceptions with a QB rating of 81.3.

"The fact is that when Carr has been good, he’s been great. But when he’s been off, he’s been the opposing team’s 12th man."

To be fair, there have been games where Carr has played well and the Raiders didn’t give him much help. One of his better games was a loss to the Steelers where Oakland’s D didn’t bother to suit up. As all fans know, a quarterback can get too much credit or criticism when his team wins and loses. In this case, I think Carr has been treated fairly both in victory and defeat.

Most experts believe the sky is the limit with Carr and his future potential. He has put to rest the need the Raiders have had for a leader and producer long-term at the QB position.

Next: Are D.J. Hayden's Raider Days Numbered?

But he has had a true Jekyll and Hyde season in 2015, which in many ways was to be expected.

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