OAKLAND –- The Raiders had five drives in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s critical game against Kansas City. The results weren’t pretty.
Interception. Interception. Missed field goal. Interception. Turnover on downs.
That’s rough in any game, especially one the Raiders needed to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Chiefs used it to score three unanswered touchdowns and emerge with a 34-20 victory at O.co Coliseum.
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The result dominating that stretch: Interception.
It’s particularly odd considering Derek Carr threw them. He had just six in 11 previous games, and three in a brutal stretch. All of them can’t be pinned solely on Carr, though he obviously played a significant role in the outcome.
“He had a rough fourth (quarter),” head coach Jack Del Rio said. “… You can’t turn the ball over. And, in doing so, we put ourselves in some really bad spots.”
Carr was especially upset with the untimely nature of these miscues.
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“I get pretty ticked off, especially how some of them happened,” Carr said. “I got pretty upset, but sometimes those things are going to happen. It just sucked that it happened back-to-back like that.”
Let’s break down all three:
Interception No. 1
The situation: The Raiders were up 20-14, with a 2nd-and-10 on the Kansas City 33-yard line and 12:16 left in the fourth quarter.
What happened: Carr should’ve taken a sack here. He evaded the rush several times while navigating through the pocket, and eventually found a window to throw. It ended up going to Chiefs linebacker Josh Mauga, who returned it 66 yards to the one-yard line. The Chiefs scored a touchdown two plays later.
Carr’s take: “I was just trying to make a play. Seth [Roberts] popped wide open, did a great job. I was going to throw it to him and I got hit when I went to throw it to him.”
Interception No. 2
The situation: The Raiders and Chiefs were tied 20-20, with a 2nd-and-10 on the Kansas City 49-yard line with 8:21 left in the game
What happened: This one didn’t look good live. Carr threw one right to cornerback Marcus Peters, though Michael Crabtree tripped while running a cross route. Crabtree’s stumble made the timing pass go bad, leaving Peters to make an easy pick. He returned it 58 yards. The Chiefs scored a touchdown two plays later.
Carr’s take: “Crabtree’s feet just got tangled up. I threw the ball on time, when I usually do, and they were planning man coverage. The dude that wasn’t covering him caught it.”
Interception No. 3
The situation: The Raiders were down 26-20, with a 3rd-and-9 from the Raiders 16-yard line with 3:27 remaining.
What happened: Carr threw a fastball low and a bit too far ahead of Amari Cooper. The rookie got his hands on it –- Cooper said he should’ve caught it -– but it tipped up and back. Former Raiders safety Tyvon Branch ended up with it and returned the interception 38 yards for a touchdown.
Carr’s take: “We were just down, just tying to make a throw in there. It’s a tight-window throw. It was probably not a throw I would make early in a football game but we needed some chunk plays. When we need them, you have to make a tight throw like that, and it just happened to get tipped up.”
Carr’s teammates were obviously behind him, and for good reason. His steely focus and work ethic will help eliminate a carryover effect from that fourth quarter.
“Derek’s young. He’s going to learn from every experience he has out on the field,” safety Charles Woodson said. “Today will be no different. He’ll have time to reflect on everything that happened.
“The ceiling is very high for Derek. Given what I know about Derek and his work ethic and confidence, he’ll be fine and he’ll learn from the experience.”