Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr (4). Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI |
License Photo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For most of the 2016 season, Oakland quarterback Derek Carr did little wrong. The Raiders were riding a six-game winning streak and were on top the AFC West standings entering their Thursday night faceoff with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Carr, who was receiving some buzz as an NFL Most Valuable Player candidate, ranked among the top 10 quarterbacks in just about every statistical category. He was completing 65.5 percent of his passes, throwing for more than 7 yards per attempt while tossing 24 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. He owned a stellar 100.3 passer rating.
In the battle for first-place in the AFC West, Carr's big season crashed to earth. In chilly conditions at Arrowhead Stadium, Carr turned in the worst performance of his season. He completed just 17 of his 41 throws and averaged 2.9 yards an attempt. He threw for 117 yards, with his longest completion going for 18 yards.
Worst of all for Carr, Oakland lost 21-13 to the Chiefs, and now the teams share first place in the division with matching 10-3 records. However, Kansas City owns two victories over Carr and the Raiders, giving the Chiefs a tiebreaker edge.
"I feel sick to my stomach when we put something like that out there on film," Carr said. "It hurts, I can promise you that. I put too much time into this to go and do something like that."
Carr said there were no surprises from the Kansas City defense, and he felt prepared for everything the Chiefs put on the field.
"It's really frustrating because you know what to expect and you go out there and you see it and we don't get it done," he said. "I knew what they were doing. I was telling the receivers pre-snap what they were going to do and things like that. We didn't play well enough."
Oakland coach Jack Del Rio wasn't going to lay all the blame on his quarterback.
"I liked our effort; I didn't like our execution," Del Rio said. "We had some opportunities to do things better in all three phases, and we came up short. We didn't throw it and catch it the way we typically do. He's a great player, and he's played really, really well for us all year. It was tough conditions tonight, and he wasn't helped by some dropped passes along the way."
