Mystery of Raiders' offense continues

Dec 12, 2017 - 1:49 AM ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Where has Derek Carr gone?

The same quarterback who was a Most Valuable Player candidate a year ago is coming off one of his worst games for the Oakland Raiders, a 26-15 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The loss crippled the Raiders' playoff hopes. They could have been in the driver's seat in the AFC West race with a win, but instead fell to 6-7 and are seeded No. 9 in the AFC with three games to play.

Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio, asked about Carr's play Monday, said he essentially wanted to see the entire team play with more verve.

"I think that there have been many examples throughout the season where we have not played boldly to go make the plays," Del Rio said. "I would really like to see that ... if you go halfway, it's not good enough anyway. So I'd love to just see us just let it rip, OK, and go play.

"Talked about hair on fire, talked about the kind of effort and energy, playing fast, that's what I believe in -- and I'd love to see it more often."

Carr fell to 0-4 in Arrowhead Stadium, where he has produced five touchdowns in 52 possessions, with four of those scores coming late in one-sided games. His career passer rating in Kansas City is 62.1.

In his weekly YouTube video on his website Monday, Carr promised his fans he'd keep up the good fight.

"We're one game out, we have a split with Kansas City, we have to beat Dallas this week, that's the most important thing," Carr said. "We know we have good players. We know we have a lot of talent. But we haven't put it together so far.

"We've got to go out and execute at a high level and it's ridiculous that we haven't been able to."

--Tight end Jared Cook provided one of the Raiders' few highlights with a 29-yard touchdown reception in the second half, but wasn't in a celebrating mood afterward.

"Not good enough. No first-half points. Barely any second-half points," Cook said. "We (the offense) didn't pull our weight. The defense made a good job holding a team like that to three-and-outs, making them settle for field goals, keeping them out of the end zone. The offense just didn't pull its weight today."

Now the Raiders must accept it and move on.

"We made our bed," Cook said. "Now we've got to lie in it."

--The loss marked the fourth time in 2017 where the Raiders were basically non-competitive and beaten decisively in a game away from home.

The Raiders also lost 27-10 at Washington, 34-14 at Buffalo and 33-8 in New England (a game in Mexico City that was technically a home game).

"I wish I had the answer because it would have been something we could have nipped after the first couple of drives," Carr said. "I will look at myself as I always do and see what I can do better and help my teammates along the way."

--Center Rodney Hudson, a former Chiefs player who has been the Raiders' most consistent offensive lineman this season, was at a loss to explain why his team came out so flat.

"I've got to watch the tape. No clue," Hudson said. "We got off to a slow start for whatever reason."

Hudson did not feel the Raiders will give any less effort over the last three games with the playoffs looking less likely.

"Every time you get an opportunity to play in this league, you want to play hard," Hudson said. "I know we've got a bunch of guys that feel that way."

NOTES: DL Mario Edwards Jr. left Sunday's game with an ankle injury and did not return. ... TE Clive Walford left with a concussion and did not return. ... QB Derek Carr threw his 99th career touchdown pass in the second half Sunday, on a pass that went to Jared Cook. ... DE Khalil Mack had a sack in his fourth straight game and leads the Raiders with 8.5. ... DE Denico Autry had his first start of the season. He batted down two passes and has seven for the season.



REPORT CARD VS. CHIEFS

--PASSING OFFENSE: F -- By the time Derek Carr got going, it was too late. He had thrown for just 40 yards by the time the Raiders trailed 26-0, and much of the 198 net yards passing was in garbage time. He did make a nice fourth-down throw to Jared Cook for a 29-yard touchdown pass that was reminiscent of what Carr can do when he's playing well. Other than that play, Carr had no completion of more than 11 yards.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: C -- Don't be deceived by the 6.4 average yards per carry. Marshawn Lynch had 49 of his 61 yards rushing on two attempts. Nice, but not exactly the steady drumbeat of first downs the Raiders needed to possess the ball and have some control over the game. DeAndre Washington had 9 yards on four carries. The Raiders had only 11 rushing plays in the game.

--PASS DEFENSE: C -- Alex Smith was sacked four times -- two times by Bruce Irvin in the first half -- and he finished 20 of 34 for 268 yards. The Raiders did well to hold the Chiefs to 26 points by forcing field-goal attempts four times. S Karl Joseph had the first interception of the season by a Raiders defensive back. There was some shoddy tackling in the secondary, with Joseph an offender.

--RUSH DEFENSE: D-minus -- The Chiefs' ailing rushing game got well against the Raiders, as Kareem Hunt broke loose for 116 yards on 25 carries. Kansas City finished with 165 yards, averaged 5.0 yards per attempt and had two rushing touchdowns -- a 1-yard run by Hunt and 13 yards by Charcandrick West. The Chiefs were able to keep possession for 36:40 with the help of their running game.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: C -- Marquette King punted seven times for a 40.9 average and put one ball at the 14-yard line, but didn't swing field position in a positive way for the Raiders. Jalen Richard managed to catch the only punt he fielded and the Chiefs made sure Cordarrelle Patterson never fielded a kickoff.

--COACHING: F - For the fourth time away from home this year the Raiders didn't look remotely competitive. Whether it was execution or predictability, a porous Kansas City defense played as if it knew what was coming from the Raiders offense. The Raiders were completely outplayed and out-coached when the Raiders had everything to play for and a playoff berth in sight.