He threw one interception that looked as if it would cost Oakland the game, but then came right back to engineer an 80-yard drive that ended with his 12-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts. All totaled, the Raiders were flagged 16 times for 106 yards. But Carr’s three touchdowns bettered his opponent’s by one, and his last scoring toss of the day was the capper in a 37-33 Oakland victory.
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Tony Lombardi with the Russell Street Report joined the Scott Garceau Show with Jeremy Conn to recap the Ravens loss to the Oakland Raiders.
Nobody involved in the operations of the Oakland football organization admitted to desperation, however.
After opening their season with two road games, which bookended a week of practice in San Jose, the Baltimore Ravens return home with important questions to ponder if they are to assume their usual role as a Super Bowl contender.
During the preseason, many media outsiders along with Raiders fans thought the team may be ready to do something this year. They ran it on us when they spread us out. In the same situation last week, he stuck his mitt in the face of Bengals bad boy defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones and was rewarded for the stiff-arm with a badly damaged thumb that rendered him unfit for duty for the rest of the opener.
Rather than a fracture, as initially feared, it was only a sprain. Ravens strong safety Will Hill III intercepted Carr’s pass on second-and-10 from the 17, but he was flagged for holding, negating the pick.
The gain went for 24 yards.
Baltimore cut Oakland’s lead to 10-3 on Tucker’s 22-yard field goal with 7:41 left in the first quarter. Imagine if he’d have found the end zone. Since 1990, only 12 percent of National Football League teams that were winless in their first two games qualified for the postseason.
“I see more confidence from him, not cockiness, but just confidence”, added Jackson. He reminded everyone of how often they’d practiced the two-minute drill and encouraged them to believe.
The Raiders needed to win.
Carr and the Raiders kept the Cincinnati debacle in perspective.
“It was a good team win”, Crabtree said.
Whether Carr can continue to play at this level is anyone’s guess, but a few more performances like this and he’ll become a household name, eventually earning one of these big contracts and helping the Raiders fix what has been a decade of disappointing play. “That’s good, and that’s great“. And now, the Raiders along with Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, and Minnesota Vikings are looking for their quarterbacks to make that big jump in year two. Our dates are set and we got to show up. “And this is proof of it”. In his defense, Carr said he fully expected the flag, but given it was second down with 41 second on the clock, the gamble could have cost the Raiders the game.
Said Del Rio: “That’s one of those throws where you could think, “That’s the back side, it’s not getting to me” and you don’t work the same way”.
Coaching is key, but players must execute at a high level if the game plan is to come to fruition on Sundays.
Coach Jack Del Rio noticed a lot more smiles around the Oakland Raiders offices this Monday than there were a week ago. “It was a normal week in those respects”. Suggs can’t play cornerback or defensive tackle. An Achilles’ injury suffered last week in Denver cost Suggs his season.
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Calling the win “emotional”, Carr credited his teammates and admitted just how much the game meant to him. We saw a relative unknown, Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson, grab the spotlight while the underpaid great Tom Brady put together a historic showing in leading his team to a win. “But we didn’t because it’s not like that way anymore. It’s a new culture”.
