If the Raiders play like they did Sunday it will be a long season. Oakland came out with a 3-and-out faster than you can imagined. The defense wasn’t much better. The Raiders got beat as soon as they got off the plane.
Now, they’ll go into Indianapolis. The Colts are well coached and still strong enough to beat the Raiders.
Derek Carr also needs to play better. His statistics are fine. Carr is playing efficient.
Unfortunately, he’s far too comfortable over matched. Carr is also reverting back to bad habits. The Raiders quarterback is bouncing in the pocket unnecessarily. His footwork hasn’t been the best even when the pocket is set.
Still, he has been a strong leader. Carr has been accurate. He just hasn’t taken enough chances. The ones he has haven’t been fruitful. I guess this is the narrative on Carr.
The Point is, Carr is the one player who might actually give the Raiders an advantage. He’s got the talent to be a top 10 player at a position. It is his time to take games over and stop optimizing his way to mediocrity.
On defense, the Raiders play more discipline than years past. That’s the problem. They need some game changers who can dominate one-on-one matchups consistently. Oakland has some players who can win in spots. They need more than that.
Indianapolis is 2-1 and they aren’t giving up on the playoffs. The Silver and Black can win this game. However, they need Derek Carr to outplay Jacoby Brissett and the Raiders need their defense to make more than a play.