In Week 15, the Las Vegas Raiders nearly blew their fifth 13-plus-point lead of the 2022 season, but Derek Carr and Chandler Jones turned the tide back in the Silver and Black’s favor for one of the most chaotic finishes you’ll ever see in the regular season.
This time, Vegas allowed the New England Patriots to overcome a 14-point deficit, which started with Carr’s pick-six at the beginning of the third quarter, but he made up for it with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole. The referees took several minutes to review the play and the call stood—a touchdown.
Vegas still had to finish the job, and New England made an uncharacteristic mistake of a Bill Belichick-coached team. Jones capitalized on wideout Jakobi Meyers’ ill-advised lateral pass to quarterback Mac Jones.
By now, you’ve seen both plays 20 or more times—no need to rehash what happened there—though we shouldn’t gloss over the bigger picture.
Related: Winners and losers from Las Vegas Raiders stunning Week 15 victory
Derek Carr delivers with future in doubt
This year, Carr’s completion rate has dropped significantly compared to recent years. He’s down to a 61.2% rate, which is his third-lowest mark of his career, while listing 18th league-wide in passer rating. On the other hand, the ninth-year signal-caller ranks 10th in QBR and has his fourth-highest touchdown rate (4.9), which is comparable to his touchdown rate (five percent) from the 2016 campaign.
Regardless of what quarterback metric you use to measure Carr’s production, he’s clearly underwhelmed when you consider the addition of star wideout Davante Adams, specifically in the red zone.
Last week, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal raised serious questions about Carr’s future with four games (now three games) left for the new regime to evaluate him. The reporter’s sources had a strong stance.
“League sources have indicated it seems inevitable the Raiders will move on from Carr,” Bonsignore wrote.
This past Sunday, Carr had his big moment. On the wrong side of a momentum swing, he delivered a dart to Cole, which allowed the Raiders to tie the game with Daniel Carlson’s extra point.
Keep in mind that before Carr’s touchdown pass, Vegas had done next to nothing on offense in the second half. After his pick-six, Vegas punted on five consecutive drives, which included three sequences of three-and-outs.
After the quarterback’s turnover, the offensive line started to crumble in pass protection, allowing three sacks after not giving up any in the first half. Secondly, the Patriots did a good job of keeping Carr’s connection with Adams out of rhythm. The wideout finished with just four receptions for 28 yards.
Carr showed that he still has the comeback touch in his arm. No, he didn’t have a great game against New England’s ninth-ranked pass defense but give some credit to cornerback Marcus Jones and the Patriots.
Assuming the Raiders haven’t completely made up their mind about Carr, this performance does more good than harm to his one-year resume under head coach Josh McDaniels.
Even though Carr didn’t have an efficient performance (20-of-38 passing for 231 yards), he still threw for three touchdowns. By the way, he converted on his red-zone opportunity—a five-yard pass to wideout Mack Hollins for a score.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders schedule and game-by-game predictions
Chandler Jones quiets contract critics for the Las Vegas Raiders
Based on basic sack numbers, many people would argue that the Raiders downgraded at the edge-rusher position. They traded Yannick Ngakoue to the Indianapolis Colts for cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and signed Jones to a three-year, $51 million deal.
In 2021, Ngakoue finished within the top 16 in sacks (10) and quarterback pressures (36) as a complement to Maxx Crosby in the pass rush. Going into Week 16 this season, Jones has just 4.5 sacks and 17 pressures.
However, we must consider the fact that Ngakoue played under former Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, so his role and responsibilities may have been different than Jones’ duties in Patrick Graham’s scheme. While edge-rushers are primarily expected to rush the quarterback, they must also set the edge and defend the run as well.
Jones has done his job as run defender, though he’s made waves in the pass rush over the past month, recording 18 pressures and four sacks since Week 12, per Pro Football Focus.
This past Sunday, Jones had a couple of pressures, but he ironically made a heads-up play against the Patriots, who are known for doing the same to pull out victories.
For once in a long time, Belichick’s squad flopped in a crucial situation, and it cost New England the game. Jones benefitted from the Patriots’ folly and showed exactly why the Raiders signed him a big-money deal.
Related: Sportsnaut’s updated Week 16 NFL power rankings
Of course, the Patriots had to make an error for Jones to score, but that’s usually the difference in close games. Most teams will have a mistake or two, but does your squad have the players with the awareness and ability to jump on those opportunities? Jones checked that box with a walk-off win on a fumble recovery for a touchdown to silence his critics who question if he brings enough to the defense.
Obviously, Jones must continue to make impact plays to justify his high-end salary, but he’s played up his billing over the past few weeks.
Maurice Moton covers the Las Vegas Raiders for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.