In switching offensive coordinators in the offseason, the Raiders believed they’d be playing to the strengths of quarterback Derek Carr.
After Carr reached new heights in 2016 under Bill Musgrave, the Oakland braintrust thought Carr could prosper even more with a move to Todd Downing, the quarterbacks coach who had a terrific rapport with the young quarterback.
Instead, the move seems to have backfired.
As the 3-5 Raiders prepare to play the Dolphins in Miami Sunday night, Carr just hasn’t performed the way he did last season in Musgrave’s offense. In fact, both the running games and passing attacks have taken a step back.
For much of this season, the Raiders’ passing offense has focused on shorter routes. That changed two weeks ago when Carr started attacking downfield, and the Raiders’ offense thrived in a 31-30 victory over the Chiefs. But then the Raiders reverted to a less-dynamic attack in the loss to the Bills in Buffalo.
As Kevin Patra of NFL.com noted this week, the Raiders will run out of time to salvage their season if they don’t start turning things around beginning Sunday in Miami. To do that, however, Carr and Co. will likely need to be more aggressive throwing the ball. As Patra reported, Carr had a passer rating of 117.8 when throwing 21 or more yards downfield in 2016. This season, his rating is just 51.6 on those throws.
Also, Carr thrived in play-action passes in the past, yet Oakland has gone away from play-action this season. The analytic website Pro Football Focus noted that Raiders quarterbacks have thrown off play action just 9.9 percent of the time, the lowest rate in the NFL.
Sports
Wrote PFF: “A week after a solid performance against the Chiefs, Carr was inconsistent against a tough Bills defense. He started the game strong, with a few big throws down the field and up the seams in the first quarter to get on the board, but there wasn’t much going after that.”
Pro Football Focus, too, has pointed out that Carr is getting rid of the football in just 2.19 seconds, the quickest among all NFL quarterbacks this season, yet when he takes longer to allow deeper routes to develop, he’s completing just 43 percent of his throws.
If the Raiders are to beat Miami Sunday night and start rolling, they’ll need to see more of the 2016 version of Carr and less of the 2017 model.
Kickoff for Sunday’s game is set for 5:30 p.m.
