Raider Nation, I'm sure you have the same sentiments as I do. Truly, this was the worst Christmas gift we could ask for. The Raiders took care of business against Andrew Luck and the Colts in a 25-33 victory, but if you guys have not heard the news, Derek Carr is injured with a broken fibula and is out indefinitely for the season. We could be celebrating that we're 12-3 and hopefully with a KC loss tomorrow, the Raiders will clinch the AFC West and a possible first round bye in the playoffs. But the Raiders just lost the heart and soul of this team and it affects the morale of the players and the morale of us, the Raider Nation.
This post will be an informal full recap of the game. I was able to listen to portions of the game on 95.7 The Game with Greg Papa making the call while I was doing my last-minute errands for the holidays. The final score is deceptively close. Offensively, the Raiders pounded the Colts through the air and on the ground. Derek Carr outperformed Andrew Luck this game, throwing for 228 yards and 3 scores while Luck managed more yardages with 288 yards and 2 scores, but he also committed 2 INTs. On the ground game, DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard were absolute studs today. DeAndre was the bigger stud as he broke out for 99 yards and two scores. Richard had 66 yards on the ground, but caught a receiving touchdown. I remember hearing Greg Papa's call on one of Washington's TD runs and the highlights after I got home. Washington was making the Colts defense miss. We also gotta give credit to the left side of the O-line. Penn, Hudson, and K.O., there's a reason why the left side is in the Pro Bowl. They absolutely demolished the Colts' D-Line to give Washington a big hole for a 2nd rushing TD.
Carr's injury was a big blemish, but there are also a few more negatives. Two missed PATs by Janikowski was an obvious negative. After seeing the highlights, the 2nd PAT by Sebass after Carr found Richard for a TD was blocked. However, those minor things come back to haunt teams at the end. And considering we're talking Andrew Luck and the Colts, the missed PATs are scarier. Another negative, the team was penalty happy during the 4th quarter. I was looking through the live feed of my Yahoo Sports app and I keep seeing "Oakland committed a 10 yard penalty" or "Oakland committed a 15 yard penalty." The offense was in Indy territory and then several penalties backed them up big time back into their own territory. This was all before Carr went down after twisting foot as the Colts' Trent Cole came in with the sack. Overall, the Raiders finished with 10 penalties for almost 100 yards. Really inexcusable, especially when they had such a big lead.
The other thing that grinded my gears here was that the Raiders were going for the knockout pass with Matt McGloin under center in over 4 minutes in the 4th quarter. A McGloin incomplete pass stopped the clock at 4:04 in the 4th quarter and the Colts were down by two possessions. Essentially, they just saved the Colts from using a timeout when they had two remaining plus the two-minute warning. In that situation, run it, and force them to use that timeout. I'm sorry, I still have nightmares abotu the game against the Lions in the 2011 season. Carson Palmer threw an incomplete pass to Chaz Schilens and ultimately, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson came back to beat them after being down two scores. Back to the present hour, on the next Raiders possession, they did it again, but thank goodness Coop made the acrobatic catch to seal the deal. Those kinds of plays can give the coach and offensive coordinator major props or major scrutiny.
This team has to find a way to pull together. Yes, Carr is the engine that keeps the Raiders moving. Losing him sucks. It absolutely sucks. And it definitely punched us in the gut. We have all these Super Bowl aspirations after clinching the playoff berth last week in San Diego, but Carr's recent injury put a halt to that for the moment. It is now in the hands Matt McGloin. We know McGloin can ball. We've seen it first hand in 2013 even though those games didn't translate into wins. We have to remember, McGloin hasn't seen action as a full game starter since that season. I'm not counting the Bengals game last season since he took over for Carr when 25% of the game progressed. Obviously, Connor Cook is not ready. The team has to rally around McGloin as the quarterback. We have to rally around McGloin. This team also has to rally around Khalil Mack because he's gonna take on bigger responsibilities as the team leader now that Carr is likely done for the season. I've seen a lot of fight and resiliency in this team all season long. They have to continue to embody the motto of "Just Win Baby" and continue to do so "by any means." But it's also important to send Carr good wishes and support for a fast, full recovery. That's our quarterback. And we hope he comes back stronger than ever to lead the Raiders to greatness for years to come. I'll see you guys next week.
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