KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In the Oakland Raiders' biggest game of the season, they played their worst.
Especially quarterback Derek Carr and the offense.
With first place in the AFC West on the line Sunday, the Raiders were absolutely thumped by the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-15, and Arrowhead Stadium remained a house of horrors for Carr.
"We don’t deserve to be No. 1 in our division when we just went out there and pissed on our leg," said tight end Lee Smith.
The Raiders fell to 6-7 overall while the Chiefs improved to 7-6.
“It sucked," Carr said of the Raiders' lack of execution. "Wasn’t good enough and you put it all on me. Don’t you blame one coach, one player, it’s all my fault.
“There’s no easy way to go through this one. This one sucked.”
Kansas City, which had lost six of its previous seven games, entered Sunday with the NFL’s No. 30-ranked total defense. The Chiefs, however, simply dominated the Raiders, who were regaining the services of starting receivers Michael Crabtree (suspension) and Amari Cooper (ankle).
But Cooper, who was a last-minute decision to play, reinjured his left ankle on a sweep play when Raiders running back DeAndre Washington rolled up on him in the first half. Crabtree, meanwhile, was simply not effective.
Neither was Carr, the Raiders' $125 million quarterback who has not looked the same, really, since suffering a broken pinkie finger on his passing hand last year, let alone his broken right leg in Week 16 last season or the broken bone in his back he suffered at Denver in Week 4 this season.
Raiders coach Jack Del Rio seemed stumped when asked why the offense started so slowly.
"That is a good question," Del Rio said. "That is one we have to take a look at. Bottom line, we did not. The first five drives of the first half were four punts and a pick. That is not the kind of productivity we needed today, obviously."
Then there was this: “They're playing losing football right now,” former Raiders coach Tom Flores said on the radio broadcast. “They're doing nothing. They're dinking ... 1-yard route, for crying out loud.
“Very listless performance on offense ... looks like they haven’t even practiced.”
Carr, who is now 0-4 in Kansas City, was just 11-of-23 passing for 69 yards with an interception and a passer rating of 36.3 through three quarters. He finished 24-for-41 with 211 yards, two picks and a touchdown thanks to a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives -- after falling behind 26-0. Carr was also sacked three times.
“The tackles are getting pushed back and the pocket is collapsing around him,” former Raiders All-Pro tackle Lincoln Kennedy said on the radio broadcast. “Then [Carr] gets a little happy feet.”
The Chiefs were also playing without All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters, who was suspended by the team after throwing a referee’s flag into the stands and leaving the field on his own last week at the New York Jets.
Speaking of the Jets, quarterback Josh McCown lit the Chiefs up for 331 yards last week and the Jets dropped 38 points on Kansas City. So with the Raiders' high-powered offense getting its pieces back Sunday, things looked good, no?
Well...
A lack of urgency combined with curious play calling by first-year offensive coordinator Todd Downing and a less-than-confident look by Carr doomed the Raiders early.
"Even if I could put my finger on it, you think I'd tell you?" mused tight end Jared Cook, who caught five passes for 75 yards, including a 29-yard TD.
"I ain't got no answer for you, bruh."
At one point, Carr was just 3-for-7 for 20 yards on passes thrown more than 5 yards downfield and just 4-for-9 for 22 yards with an interception when the Chiefs sent four or fewer pass-rushers, per ESPN Stats & Information.
Carr completed just 1-of-10 passes thrown 15 or more yards downfield for 29 yards, a TD and an interception. Carr’s only such completion came with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter trailing 26-7, the TD to Cook. In his Week 7 win over the Chiefs earlier this year, Carr completed 5-of-14 deep passes for a season high 167 yards and two touchdowns.
Asked if he is healthy and feels good, Carr said, “Yeah. Yes. Thank you.
“My rookie year we were terrible. It’s definitely not as bad as we’ve played but it wasn’t good enough.”
The Raiders play host to the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday night in Oakland’s home finale, before playing at the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football on Christmas night and closing out the season at the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 31.