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ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Will the Oakland Raiders be brought down by Derek Carr's right pinkie? On a week in which the Raiders clinched their first playoff berth since 2002 with a 19-16 victory over the San Diego Chargers, their offense struggled for the second straight game.
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Since the injury, incurred on Nov. 27 while taking a snap from under center by Rodney Hudson, the Raiders have run 231 plays from either the shotgun or pistol formations, where the quarterback is at least four yards behind the center.
Carr came back after being hurt to engineer a win over Buffalo and was at the helm when the Raiders scored 29 straight points en route to a 38-24 win over Buffalo.
But in the last two games, the Raiders have had only two touchdowns in 10 red zone possessions.
Without going under center, short-yardage and goal line situations have been out of the pistol or shotgun -- even five snaps to close out wins against the Panthers and Chargers were not from under center.
Coach Jack Del Rio conceded after the Chargers game the exclusivity of shotgun snaps in the red zone were problematic.
"It's an issue we're working through," Del Rio said. "At some point when we feel better about going under center, we will."
Once the Raiders returned home to begin preparing for Saturday's game against the Indianapolis Colts, Del Rio and Carr were loath to concede the Raiders were hamstrung by their choice of formations.
"I wouldn't draw any conclusions from that," Del Rio said. "I think we're doing what we think is right for us and it's not that we can't or we haven't, it's just that we're choosing to proceed the way we are."
Although the sample size is small and perhaps skewed by a horrific Thursday night in extreme cold and wind in Kansas City, Carr's statistical dominance has abated since the injury.
Since the injury, Carr has completed 53.3 percent of his passes (65 of 122) for 721 yards, for four touchdowns and two interceptions, a passer rating of 75.2.
A passer rating that was 101.2 at the time of the injury has dropped to 95.2.
Whether it's being exclusively in a shotgun or in terms of his passing accuracy, Carr said there is no issue with his finger.
"I haven't been limited at all," Carr said. "I'm taking snaps from center in warm-ups. I did it before the San Diego game, for those that saw that. There's no limitations at all and I'm just going to do what the coaches call."
Carr attributes recent red zone problems to execution.
"We played a lot better against San Diego than we did against Kansas City," Carr said. "We moved the ball, we just got stopped in the red zone.
"We're doing the right things, we're doing good things, but there's always going to be things to quarter-turn and tweak."
--Where has Amari Cooper gone?
The Raiders wide receiver has surpassed his rookie totals with 74 receptions for 1,038 yards and was selected as a Pro Bowl starter, but has only 12 catches for 138 yards in his last four games and hasn't exceeded 60 yards in his last six.
Part of the problem is defenses are shading their coverage his way.
"There's a little bit of that, and the reads, there was one where he could have gotten a chance but Seth (Roberts) was wide open, so I had to throw it to Seth," quarterback Derek Carr said.
"Obviously we'd like to get him the ball, but I'm never going to force it. At the same time, he's a great playmaker and you want the ball in his hands. It's a fine line."
Cooper said he has had more attention in the secondary and figures other receivers will get free because of it.
"I've seen a little bit more safety over the top, a little bit more double coverage, a guy following me around," Cooper said. "We have a lot of capable receivers on this team so I really don't worry about it."
--Derek Carr and Andrew Luck met once before as Texas high school quarterbacks in the Class 5A Region III semifinals.
Carr, a junior for Clement High School in Sugar Land, Texas, beat Stratford of Houston 31-27.
Both quarterbacks are hazy on the details.
"He just ran over somebody and I thought, 'Quarterbacks can do that?,'" Carr said. "I remember winning the game."
Asked of his recollections, Luck said: "Losing ... which is never any fun. It was a tight one and unfortunately we didn't come out on top."
Carr completed 11 of 16 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a driving rain. Luck was 15 of 24 for 166 yards with 94 yards rushing.
The next season, Luck was a freshman at Stanford and Carr moved to Bakersfield with his family, where played his senior year at Bakersfield Christian.
--Coach Jack Del Rio said he was a believer in replay review long before the Raiders got two calls against San Diego. On one, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Michael Crabtree which was originally ruled out of bounds was called a touchdown. Also, a third-and-8 scramble by Carr was ruled to have been short of a first down.
Del Rio challenged the spot, and won for the third time in five challenges this season.
"I believe in getting it right when you can," Del Rio said. "I'd like to see it expanded to any call you think is important enough for your team. I've got a bunch of good people to help with that decision making. We've been fortunate to be on the right side of a bunch of those."
NOTES: S Karl Joseph did not practice and is expected to miss his third straight game because of a toe injury. ... LB Shilique Calhoun was limited in practice after missing the last four games following a knee procedure. ... DE Mario Edwards Jr. is practicing and could be activated for Saturday's game against Indianapolis. ... DT Stacy McGee is not practicing because of an ankle injury and is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game. ... WR Michael Crabtree is 134 yards shy of his second 1,000-yard season in receiving yardage with two games to play.
