Oakland Raiders, Derek Carr Overcame Hardships to Erase Franchise Futility

The Oakland Raiders seem to find themselves in dramatic situations every week. What obstacles did they encounter in Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers?

The Oakland Raiders overcame a dreadful recent past that looked as unpleasant as quarterback Derek Carr’s dislocated pinky finger on Sunday. Together, the team and its quarterback overcame obstacles for a brighter future.

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For the Raiders, everything went smoothly during the first half. The offense scored through the air, on the ground and defensive lineman Khalil Mack returned an interception for a touchdown. Oakland played one of their most complete halves this season.

The thoughts about a Raiders’ blowout victory quickly dissipated after a snap went awry. Carr immediately left the field in excruciating pain with a pinky finger pointing in the wrong direction. Aside from the fumble on the play, the game changed immediately on both sides of the ball.

Quarterback Matt McGloin couldn’t advance the offense during his short period under center. Carr returned to the game and threw an interception with lingering pain in his hand. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton tossed two touchdown bombs while running back Jonathan Stewart chipped away at Oakland’s defensive line.

Yet, the Raiders overcame it all.

Head coach Jack Del Rio gave his team a pep talk, per San Francisco Chronicle reporter Vic Tafur:

Carr put the pain aside and drove his team downfield on two consecutive drives for 11 points with a protective glove on his throwing hand.

Despite surrendering 25 unanswered points, the defense stood tall on the final drive to prevent the Panthers from marching down the field for a tie or the game-winning score.

How did the Raiders escape a crushing loss to win their ninth game of the season?

Commitment to Excellence

No one deserves recognition for commitment to excellence more than Carr. His performance came with warts in the form of two turnovers, but the Raiders won due to his willpower and accuracy in the clutch.

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During his postgame press conference, Carr told local reporters he studied and admired Kobe Bryant’s killer instinct in critical moments. Despite an injury and two costly turnovers, Carr kept pushing downfield. He never looked shell-shocked in the pocket.

The Raiders running backs failed to consistently move the ball on the ground, racking up only 68 yards on 26 carries. The Panthers also held wideout Amari Cooper to a season-low in receiving yards (22). Carr shifted his attention to veteran wideout Michael Crabtree and tight end Clive Walford to recapture the lead and essentially claim victory.

Carr found Walford in the end zone, followed by a successful two-point conversion pass to wideout Seth Roberts. The Raiders’ signal-caller spotted Crabtree running alongside a rookie cornerback or a linebacker and exploited those favorable matchups in the last two offensive drives.

When it mattered most, like Bryant for the Los Angeles Lakers, Carr pulled through regardless of the circumstances.

Silver Lining

Despite a second-half collapse, the Raiders defense displayed some positive signs. Without cornerback David Amerson and linebacker Perry Riley, two key players, the Panthers struggled to move the ball through the air, especially with tight end Greg Olsen. The Panthers tight end only finished with four catches for 45 yards.

Unfortunately, the wheels came off the Raiders pass defense in the second half via chunk yardage. Panthers wideout Ted Ginn‘s 88-yard touchdown reception and wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin’s 44-yard touchdown catch almost negate all the positives from the first half.

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Nonetheless, we saw the best and worst of the Raiders defense through 60 minutes without the team’s No. 1 perimeter defender and their veteran linebacker who wears the green dot on his helmet.

Oakland doesn’t field a terrible defense. An awful defense wouldn’t find a way to limit the Panthers offense to 12 passing yards in one half or put together a game-winning stop on the final drive.

Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. has an inconsistent group that must learn to erase the big play downfield. With a decision coming on defensive lineman Aldon Smith, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bruce Irvin and Mack may have a third person capable of joining them on pass-rushing situations in the final quarter of the season.

As witnessed, pressure up front could help hide the cracks within the secondary along with Amerson’s availability to play through bumps and bruises.

Black Cloud

On the other side of the coin, the Raiders can’t expect Carr to transform into Houdini every week and help the team escape a jam. At some point, the Raiders have to learn to close out decisively.

In the postseason, quality opponents like the Kansas City Chiefs or New England Patriots won’t show cracks and crevices large enough to pull out a come-from-behind victory. The Raiders haven’t quite figured out how to maintain a lead after establishing dominance on a consistent basis.

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Of course, an ugly win, a comeback victory or a decisive triumph all look the same in the win column. However, over the next few weeks, the level of competition will increase in difficulty. As we all know, teams crank it up a notch during the postseason. As the stakes escalate, the Raiders have to rise with it. Oakland’s offense can win a shootout with any team in the league, but the defense must find a way to emulate their critical late-game stops with the lead during the first 45 minutes.