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All season long, the Las Vegas Raiders have preached that they are a good team that just keeps losing due to mistakes. That line worked when it was early in the season but the team is now 2-6 following their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was the team’s third loss of the season where they held at least a 17-point lead.
At this point, the Raiders are just a bad team playing bad football. Quarterback Derek Carr was supposed to be a dark horse MVP candidate but now he might be feeling like he could be on the hot seat. It’s difficult to understand how a Raiders team that made the playoffs last season added Davante Adams and Chandler Jones and somehow got worse. Carr seems to have an idea as to why things aren’t working but he isn’t spilling the beans to the media. He made some very interesting comments following the loss to Jacksonville.
“You know, I think there is a lot I want to say, you know? But if I’m honest, I don’t need to say it here,” Carr said. “There are things that will be said. There will be things that need to be addressed and all these things. But I think as [a] whole, the urgency part of it, after 30 minutes of football, we have to learn that the game is not over.
“I feel like I’ve been in this situation a lot where new coaches or this or that and you have to teach the new guys like this is how we do it and this is the mentality. That gets tiring, but at the same time, it’s my job. There is some of that. I’ll say that right now for those things. But there are things in-house that we’ll talk about man to man and all that kind of stuff that could be addressed.”
What Could Carr Be Hinting At?
Carr is obviously not happy about something. While he hasn’t been perfect every season since taking over as the Raiders starting quarterback, the team has not always put him in a position to succeed. One year, they will give him a great offensive line but no weapons to throw to. The next year, they’ll give him elite weapons but no pass protection. He’s also never had a good defense since joining the team.
Carr’s comments could simply just be referencing how much turmoil he’s had to deal with over his tenure. He could also be frustrated with how hungry certain players are to win. There’s something going on behind the scenes but he’s not willing to air out the team’s dirty laundry.
Carr Needs to Call People out at a Certain Point
Carr has always been a good teammate. He takes full responsibility for bad games and never throws teammates or coaches under the bus. It might be time to change that approach. At a certain point, if players and/or coaches aren’t doing their jobs, they need to be called out.
It’s never great to start calling out specific people in the media but perhaps that’s the step Carr needs to make as a leader. Whatever the Raiders have done for the last decade hasn’t worked. It’s time to switch it up and stop being the nice guy. Carr’s been in the league long enough to where he can start knocking some heads around.
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