Silver Minings: Raiders have been excellent just before halftime

There have been some odd Las Vegas Raiders’ statistical quirks in recent years.

However, one of the more lasting and interesting trends by the team has been its penchant for scoring just before halftime. The Derek Carr-led Raiders offense has been really good right before halftime. They showed that again in their 26-19 wild-card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals when Carr hit wide receiver Zay Jones for a touchdown late in the second quarter.

That is a consistent trend and it’s pretty impressive. Of course, it points Carr. He has been the team’s quarterback since 2014. Whether the Raiders have been good, bad or average, Carr shines late in the first half. Why?

Perhaps it’s as simple as he is at his best when it’s time to just go for it. Whatever it is, it’s pretty nice advantage for this team.

Other Raiders’ links:

• Lots of Raiders here: PFF has its 100 top NFL free agents and there are some familiar names on it.
• Ranking the openings: The Athletic has the Raiders’ coaching job as the third best of the current eight openings in the NFL.
• This is cool: Former Raiders’ tackle Jared Veldheer has a really cool second career. He’s cooking for school children.
• A vote for Bisaccia: Former NFL executive Joe Banner, who once interviewed Rich Bisaccia for a head-coaching job, thinks he has earned the opportunity to stay in Las Vegas as the head coach.