“Derek Carr is putting together a great season”.
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One of the Raiders’ most interesting plays on the day was one that didn’t click.
The Oakland Raiders are quietly improving in play under head coach Jack Del Rio and with Derek Carr at quarterback.
“Me and Gabe played together all past year”, said Penn afer the Jets game. He orchestrated a third quarter touchdown drive where he completed all six of his pass attempts for 68 yards, capped off by a four-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker.
The week prior to throwing three touchdowns against the San Diego Chargers, Carr had one touchdown, one interception and 6.38 Y/A against the Denver Broncos in a 16-10 loss. Consider that Rodgers faced the Broncos this week and had no touchdowns, 3.5 Y/A and lost by 19. Smith was understandably rusty at first as he threw into double-coverage and was picked off in the second quarter.
Early this season Oakland’s offensive line looked like one of the best pass protecting units in the league. He had a passer rating of 30.9. Gannon had seven interceptions though and a lower passer rating than Carr.
Who is the greatest QB in franchise history? (Though he was 28.) Dan Marino was at 122.8 in his historic 1984 season.
Despite Bell’s injury, the Steelers’ ground game was productive against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8.
“We’ve been hearing it all week, that’s what they do is stop the run”, Murray said. Which has been a lot more often than usual. It is the first time since 2011 that the team has reached four wins in the first eight weeks of the season. The first time they got the ball, Carr sent Cooper deep down the left sideline, one-on-one, against the Jets’ Darrelle Revis. It seems these two won’t just be the driving force behind a Raiders offense unlike we’ve seen in years, but could end up chasing records together in the long run. Crabtree is now averaging 69 YPG with Oakland, tying his career-high when he had 1,105 yards with the 49ers in 2012. Juxtapose that with the irony of the entire 49ers’ receiving corps totaling 94 yards on Sunday. Carr threw a swing pass in the right flat to Jones, who made three Jets miss on his way to the end zone.
Cooper entered the league as the fourth overall pick out of Alabama known as a polished route runner.
Confident that Sunday’s mistakes will be rectified, the ninth-year man in the middle knows his teammates want more than anything to redeem themselves. Jets linebacker Demario Davis scoped out the backup Raiders tailback, who took the swing pass from Carr in the flat. Will the Browns regret not taking a different player at 22, then Carr in the second round?
Michael Crabtree (15) runs after a catch in the fourth quarter as the Oakland Raiders played the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, November 1, 2015.
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Crabtree has been a leader by example for a young receiver corps. Anyone else? The Raiders sit in second place in the AFC West, just beat the second place team in the AFC East and play the AFC North’s second-place team (Pittsburgh) next week. 500 again and out of the playoffs, the success this season appears to be more lasting. They did so from the outset, marching 65 yards for a TD on their opening possession and never looking back.
