The Raiders have taken a step backwards this year, but with four games to play, they are tied for the division lead and the AFC West is somehow still there for taking.
What do the Raiders need to propel them to the postseason? Former Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski says they need exactly what they had a year ago – a “better” Derek Carr.
“Carr has got to be better,” Romanowski said Monday during one of his weekly appearances on 95.7 The Game. “I don’t care what anybody says. This season, how I see it more and more, is on him. He has been erratic, he has not been consistent, and he has digressed.”
Whether it was the change at offensive coordinator or something else, the Raiders offense (with the exception of the Chiefs game) has only recently begun to resemble what it looked like a year ago.
Carr has improved in recent weeks, but his accuracy hasn’t always been great and errant throws are still happening more frequently than they did a year ago.
What the Raiders would love to see over the last four games is the same quarterback that willed and carried the team to the playoffs a year ago. If that Derek Carr shows up and hangs around for a while, you can bet the Raiders will once again be bound for the playoffs – and maybe just get a home game this year.
twitter: @raidersbeat
That depends largely on the WR’s, who also struggled with drops last year, but were at least clutch. They have the same problem this year, minus the clutch catches. Add in the defense not getting turnovers like they were last year, and it’s pretty clear why the Raiders are 6-6.
True, the Raiders offense has struggled, but that was mostly on the new scheme and a rook play caller. I mean, Downing used the least amount of play action plays in the NFL for half the season, by a lot. Raiders used 7 through the 1st 6 games, while the next lost team to use play action was the steelers, with 16 at that point, over twice as many as the Raiders. That’s just bad play calling.
I haven’t seen a regression in Carr, only a regression in the team and scheme around Carr. Ppl who don’t know much about football but want to complain about it like they know something always blames the QB for offensive struggles, despite overwhelming evidence of other issues being the cause. It’s a trend.
Very true. I don’t care about poor OC, or dropped by pass catchers.
Derek has to be better.
That’s exactly what I see, and what has been hard to watch the past two seasons. There are times when Carr would not wait to let a play develop and check down, only to see a wide open receiver down field. Most other times his throws are off, causing the receiver to stretch vertically or horizontally putting them in harms way. We saw that 2 weeks ago when Cooper took a blow and missed the last game with the concussion. I liked Carr because he was showing so much promise, but without a good QB coach he is just average. We paid him too soon. Should have locked up Mack first, so we could have signed Carr for much less this offseason. Hind sight is 20/20.
As a Raider fan and after watching every game this season, I agree with Romanowski. Whether it’s a new coordinator or whatever, Carr needs to be more consistent. He’s a great player and I hope our offense gets it together to compliment our defense since our defense improved after the departure of KNJ. I also understand why Del Rio promoted Downing to OC because the offense won’t change—just minor tweaks—and Derek should excel with a familiar system. However, it hasn’t panned out so far. Let’s continue to feed Beastmode, receivers need to catch and secure the ball, Carr needs to get better and be more accurate, and the OLine needs to be nasty like they were last season. #RN4L
I don’t think Carr regressed I think the offense regressed as a whole. Dropped balls, poor scheme, oline regressing but have looked better recently, Carr is young and young QB have down years that what I’m taking this as he can’t will a team to the playoffs every year. Brady and Rogers do that cause of experience and **** good coaching around them. Carr does deserve the flak of not letting plays develop but I’ve always thought he was very accurate besides a few throws that get away from him. The guys had a few injuries hit him in a basically a year a broken leg and back so in my book cut the guy some slack and get on the rest of the Offense and it’s coordinator to step up looking at you WR and your **** dropped balls. 33 dropped passes this year ( tied for first in NFL) and 333 yards lost from dropped passes (1st in NFL) that is 3 and a 1/3 football fields so yeah dropped balls play a big part in this
The defense didn’t get an INT until week TWELVE. On a lucky bounce no less. They’ve been a smidge better than awful too many times to count. Carr gotta be better true but this season has other fingerprints on it than just D.C.’s.
I believe a lot of this does indeed fall on downing, the right coaching scheme makes the player great. I mean look at Alex Smith during the mike Nolan / Mike Singleterry era in SF.. then look how he has played when Harbaugh was there and his years in KC have been consistent. Derek found his stride early last season with the offensive scheme that we had, it wasn’t perfect, it had its up and downs but it was much more explosive than this years. Our receivers are flat, they break open for small gains like in Derek’s first season. The stat line Derek had last week vs the giants was impressive considering who were his starting wide receivers. We are soooo close to breaking down the wall, if our defense plays consistent and let DC start making his own adjustments to the offense I think we will be just fine.