The Oakland Raiders had already been eliminated from playoff contention when they took to the field against the Eagles in Philadelphia on Christmas night. Closing out a disastrous season, the Raiders were simply playing for pride.
And for the most part, they hung in there with an Eagles team that boasts the NFL’s best record, losing by the score of 19-10. Unfortunately, the team’s offense once again proved to be anemic. Outside of a 63-yard touchdown strike from Derek Carr to Amari Cooper in the second quarter, Oakland put up 211 yards and three points in the game.
Following the game, Carr himself had somewhat of a baffling comment when asked why the Raiders didn’t take more downfield shots.
“Once we hit the first one (to Cooper), Eagles weren’t going to let us have another one,” Carr said, via The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
Huh? That apparently means the Raiders shouldn’t have tried to go downfield. We’re also pretty darn surprised defenses in today’s NFL don’t let offenses do what they want. That would make for a much more entertaining game, right?
Carr threw for 74 yards on 28 attempts outside of that one completion to Cooper. He also led an offense that turned the ball over five times, including two interceptions from Carr himself.
It’s comments like these that really make us wonder about the fourth-year quarterback. Carr put up an MVP caliber performance in 2016, only for the Raiders to briefly make him the league’s highest-paid player. Since then, it’s been completely downhill.
Carr heads into Week 17 having thrown 22 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions while leading the NFL’s 23rd-ranked scoring offense. That’s a far cry from a No. 7 ranking last season.