“Nah, nah, nah, it’s a different team, man”, Mack said with a laugh on Wednesday in the Oakland Raiders locker room. It’s still kind of surreal and I don’t think it will be real to me until I’m done playing and I can kind of look back. For him, the maturing process, the time in our system, the time with the same set of skill people he’s throwing to and being on the same page.
Advertisement
The Raiders’ heavy investment in their offensive line is for games exactly like Sunday’s. It always starts up front.
Cornerback T.J. Carrie was originally projected to fill Smith’s spot in the starting lineup, but if Smith does play he gives Oakland far more depth to challenge Broncos receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.
San Francisco must keep the ball away from Brees, but it averages a league-low 4.9 yards per play. The next season the Broncos and the Raiders owned 8-3 and 7-4 records when they played in L.A. With a victory, the Raiders outlasted the Broncos in the division race.
Carr will get one of his toughest tests yet Sunday night when the Super Bowl champion Broncos (6-2) bring their top-notch defense to Oakland to face the Raiders (6-2) in an AFC West showdown.
Thus, while beating Trevor Siemian and the Broncos still might not quash lingering concerns over Oakland’s slowly improving defense, and only Del Rio’s message being received by his players can answer questions about the NFL’s least disciplined team, it would certainly serve as the first signature win, and some needed validation, on the Raiders’ resume. But we just have to do the right thing and with the injection he’s getting.
With the Raiders holding a 10-6 lead, Carr was pressured on a third-and-2 near midfield. Carr completed 40 of 59 attempts without an interception. Those are unbelievable numbers. Walford and Cooper’s slick catches helped, but the throws were on point, with black-listed Pro Football Focus tight end Mychal Rivera snagging the game-tying TD after flawless low-and-outside placement from Carr.
Carr’s 7.19 yards per pass attempt puts him down in Case Keenum and Cody Kessler territory at No. 19 in the National Football League, and many of his other bare statistics can be accounted for with the massive amounts of help he has lined up in front of him.
Neither can Carr’s ability to find his two high-end receivers against the Broncos’ cover men.
“But he’s doing good”.
Carr has gotten better in each of his three seasons and has put himself into the MVP conversation this year. Doss is a relative unknown, a former fifth-round draft pick who has one tackle on the season. He’s probably a year or two away from tier one, but he is rapidly closing in on the second tier, where guys like Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton now reside. Oakland will need some chunk plays. His accuracy and footwork are inconsistent at best. “I’ve seen the type of quarterback that he can be”. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in him. Most quarterbacks do not enjoy that luxury.
Good luck this week and check back for more fantasy football insight. That number drops down to 60 when there is pressure.
I’m pretty surprised that the Steelers are underdogs in this game. And Carr has failed to score more than 17 points against a Denver outfit in six tries.
Advertisement
Bad pass protection exposes a quarterbacks.
