Raiders week 15 Ballers & Busters vs Packers: Part two

Busters

Derek Carr

Even with his two touchdown passes, he had his worst passer rating of the season (63.8). That was due in large part to starting the game with two-straight interceptions that spotted the Packers a 14-0 first quarter lead.

The first pick he thought he had safety Micah Hyde turned around only to have Hyde turn just as he put the ball in the air and easily intercept it. He returned it to the one-yard-line and the Packers scored the touchdown a few plays later.

Carr's second interception he overthrew Seth Roberts and Damarious Randall returned it 43 yards for the touchdown - Carr's second pick six in three games.

To Carr's credit, he was able to bounce back. He was able to shake off early inaccuracy orchestrate several scoring drives in the second and third quarter to actually take a lead for a short time. But even that comeback was house money.

Several times he threw to a defender and was lucky to have the interception dropped. With the Raiders still down 14-6 in the second quarter, he began a series with a dropped interception. The series ended with a three-and-out. A takeaway by the defense kept the Packers from scoring again and gave the Raiders another shot at the end of the first half. A 29-yard screen play to Marcel Reece was followed by a completion to Mychal Rivera for 14 yards, a 19-yard scramble by Carr, and a 19-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper.

On the second possession of the third quarter, Carr again led the Raiders on a touchdown drive. But again it nearly didn't happen when Carr threw into double coverage and had another would-be interception dropped. His 26-yard touchdown pass to Cooper gave the Raiders a 20-17 lead. That turned out to be all the heroics Carr had in him.

The Packers took back the lead in :62 and Carr couldn't get the offense going again to keep up. He completed 9 of 21 passes the remainder of the game. He was back to being inaccurate and showing little in the way of pocket awareness. This included running backward and taking a sack for a loss of 14 on third and three, and throwing yet another dropped interception (his third).

TJ Carrie

Carrie had a rough game. He was called for pass interference twice. The first was a very questionable, but the second one was about as obvious as they come. It was a 28-yard penalty that put the Packers at the 14-yard line on the first drive of the second half and led to a field goal to extend the Packers lead to 17-13.

After the Raiders were able to take the lead back, the reason it only lasted :62 seconds, was in part because of what appeared to be Carrie out of position on a 30-yard touchdown pass to James Jones. Amerson was guarding James Jones in the zone. He stopped in the short zone and expected help over the top by Carrie. Woodson was playing deep at safety and Carrie was to be the other safety on the play, taking one of the deep receivers. He took neither. He stopped alongside Amerson, Woodson stepped up to help with Carrie's man, and James Jones was left wide open for the touchdown.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Carrie gave up a 19-yard catch that put the Packers at the Oakland 15-yard-line. They were able to add a field goal and take a 27-20 lead.

Gabe Jackson, J'Marcus Webb

It is quite shocking to me to see Jackson appear among the Busters so many times of late. He had Pro Bowl buzz before the season and was living up to it by midseason. The Raiders are still making him the lead blocker a lot, but it is not working like it used to. Yet again, I didn't see a run play in which Jackson was the primary blocker. Conversely he also gave up several run stuffs.

Late in the first quarter, the Raiders were at the 5-yard-line looking to punch it in for a touchdown. On first down, Jackson gave up a run stuff for no gain. Another run stuff and an incompletion later and the Raiders settled for a field goal. He was late on a pull block on the Raiders second drive of the third quarter that resulted in a run stuff as well.

As far as Webb is concerned, it was perhaps not such a great idea to move him out to right tackle. He gave up a big hit on Carr on third down in the second quarter that resulted in a pass too short to pick up the first down. Then on the second play of the third quarter, he gave up a sack. He also gave up several hurries on Carr throughout the course of the game.

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