Heading into Week 12, Derek Carr has never played at a higher level in his NFL career. Coming off a fantastic game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Carr’s stock was at an all-time high. But the NFL has a funny way of bringing players back down to earth.
Carr’s game against the Atlanta Falcons was one of the worst of his career. Not only did the offense manage to score only six points, Carr had four turnovers in the game. He completed just two passes beyond 10 air yards and never looked comfortable in the pocket.
As you can see below via the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, most of Carr’s completions cam within a yard or two of the line of scrimmage.
Here is #Raiders QB Derek Carr's passing chart from Week 12: pic.twitter.com/m9rkJoGWo0
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) November 30, 2020
As we’ve seen over the last few years, the Raiders only will go as far as Carr takes them. Whenever he struggles, the team has no chance to win games. But if he plays well, they can hang with any team in the NFL.
With only five games left on the schedule, the Raiders are going to need Carr to be nearly perfect during that stretch if they want to earn a playoff berth. Up first is the New York Jets, a team that dominated the Raiders last season. Carr needs to bounce back in a big way in order for the team to avoid losing three-straight games for the first time this season.
