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          NFL Nation

          What's wrong with Raiders QB Derek Carr?

          • Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff WriterDec 11, 2017, 12:00 PM
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              Paul Gutierrez joined NFL Nation in 2013 and serves as its Las Vegas Raiders reporter. He has a multi-platform role - writing on ESPN.com, television appearances on NFL Live and SportsCenter, and podcast and radio appearances. Before coming to ESPN, Gutierrez spent three years at CSN Bay Area as a multi-platform reporter, covering the Raiders and Oakland Athletics as well as anchoring the SportsNet Central cable news show. Gutierrez votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Professional Football Writers of America and currently serves as the PFWA's Las Vegas chapter president. He is also a member of the California Chicano News Media Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Gutierrez has authored three books: Tommy Davis' Tales from the Dodgers Dugout, 100 Things Raiders Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die and If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Raiders Sideline, Locker Room and Press Box with Lincoln Kennedy. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PGutierrezESPN
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          KANSAS CITY -- It is obvious, isn't it?

          Derek Carr does not look like the same quarterback he was last season when, despite breaking his right ankle in Week 16, he finished tied for third in NFL MVP voting.

          There were the acrobatics -- remember his Superman-like dive over a defender in New Orleans in the season opener? There was the laser-like accuracy and deep shots with aplomb, and the white-knuckle finishes -- he won seven games in 2016 on fourth-quarter or overtime drives.

          That's a major reason the Oakland Raiders gave him that five-year, $125 million contract this offseason, making him, at the time, the highest-paid player in the history of the game.

          The Carr of 2017, though, does not look as confident, nor as precise, under first-year offensive coordinator and close friend Todd Downing. Carr no longer scrambles to extend plays and looks extremely uncomfortable whenever the pocket starts to show any sign of collapse, as was the case when he got sacked three times in the Raiders' 26-15 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

          First place in the division was on the line. Against a team that had lost six of seven. And with weapons in Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper coming back into service after a week off due to suspension and injury.

          And yet …

          Carr and the Raiders' offense did not simply sputter and stall. It never truly started and, despite finishing with a mini-flourish courtesy of two fourth-quarter touchdown drives after trailing 26-0, Carr had a Total QBR of 9.7, the third-lowest single-game Total QBR of his career.

          "I wish I had the answer, because it would have been something we could have nipped after the first couple of drives," Carr said when asked how such a slow start could happen, with so much on the line.

          "But, I'll look at myself like I always do and see what I can do better and see if I can help my teammates along the way."

          Of course, Carr suffered a broken pinkie finger on his passing hand last year, and then his season ended with a broken right fibula in Week 16. Then he suffered a broken bone in his back in Week 6 this season at Denver, an injury that cost him one game.

          You think that's not on his mind still, not even a little bit? He did, after all, mention all three injuries in passing at a podium session earlier this season.

          Fine, then, are you sure he is healthy, and he feels good?

          "Yeah," Carr said. "Yes. Thank you."

          Still, no one operates at 100 percent in the NFL, especially not after 13 games. But if Carr is so limited that the Raiders' purported high-powered offense cannot operate at at least minimal efficiency, he should not be out there, no? Some might call it selfish. Others, selfless.

          Then again, if he can suit up, he should play. Unless …

          "Any time you can hit the quarterback the way he was hit early," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, "that affects him."

          The late Al Davis would agree, whole-heartedly. Something about the opposing quarterback, in the first five to 10 plays of a game, must go down, and he must go down hard.

          Is Carr shook?

          Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie acknowledged the entire team was "shook" in a Week 3 loss at Washington. It has been trying to bounce back ever since. And here the Raiders are, 6-7 and a game behind the Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West.

          "It sucked," Carr said, when asked about the offense's 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."

          Through three quarters, Carr had just 69 yards passing and an interception, while completing 11 of 23 attempts.

          And he was not really trying to stretch the field.

          Consider: Carr completed only one of 10 passes thrown 15 or more yards downfield on Sunday, a 29-yard touchdown to tight end Jared Cook, and had a 2.9 yards per attempt rate.

          In the 31-30 defeat of the Chiefs in Week 7, Carr was 5-of-14 on deep passes for a season-high 167 yards and two TDs with an 11.9 yards per attempt rate.

          Plus, Carr has now thrown seven touchdowns and seven interceptions on passes of 15 yards or more this season, after throwing just three picks on 101 such passes last year.

          "Well, he is the trigger man of our offense," Del Rio said. "The offense didn't get done what we need to get down today."

          Really, it has not been consistent all season.