OAKLAND–The Oakland Raiders needed David Carr on the field and they needed to beat the Los Angeles Chargers.
On Sunday, the Raiders got Carr, but they couldn’t get the win.
After an errant snap resulted in a failed extra point on a Raiders’ touchdown with 7:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles capitalized on Oakland’s special teams error by kicking a go-ahead field goal as time expired to secure a 17-16 comeback victory.
With the loss, Oakland is now tied for last place in the AFC West a season after tying for the division lead with 12 victories.
The Raiders’ starting quarterback and the highest-paid player in the AFC suffered a transverse process fracture in his back two weeks ago, and even though it’s an injury that threatened to keep Carr off the field for up to six weeks, Oakland’s signal-caller was under center on Sunday afternoon.
Head coach Jack Del Rio couldn’t afford to trot backup E.J. Manuel out for the second straight week after Oakland suffered a 30-17 defeat against Baltimore last weekend, and Carr couldn’t bear watching another game from the sidelines. Though the fourth-year starter was clearly feeling the effects from his fracture, he decided to play through pain and the team’s medical staff allowed him to. Carr knew that by taking the field, he couldn’t suffer much more damage to his back, but nevertheless, playing against the Chargers entailed playing through a significant amount of pain.
It showed.
Though Carr completed 21-of-30 attempts on Sunday, a typically high-powered Raiders’ attack produced just 171 yards through the air and 109 yards on the ground in a rather forgettable performance.
On the Raiders’ first offensive series, the 26-year-old quarterback threw an interception right in to the hands of Los Angeles corner Trevor Williams that should have set up an early Chargers’ score. Instead, Oakland’s defense forced a three-and-out and kept Los Angeles from advancing the ball across the line of scrimmage. The Raiders’ offense put the defense in a compromising position, and somehow, Oakland battled through adversity. That became a theme.
A missed field goal by Nick Novak voided Carr’s first interception, and suddenly Oakland regrouped.
On its next series, the Oakland offense drove 11 plays for 62 yards and capped off the drive when Carr tossed a 23-yard touchdown to receiver Michael Crabtree who barely snuck his way into the front corner of the end zone to propel his team to a 7-0 lead.
It took until the final two minutes of the first half, but eventually, Los Angeles answered after Melvin Gordon burrowed his way into the end zone from one-yard out to tie the game. Sure, the Raiders had Carr back, but it didn’t mean they had their star in top form.
Midway through the third quarter, Carr threw his second interception of the game, a tipped pass that ended up in the hands of Chargers’ linebacker Hayes Pullard that thwarted a potential Oakland scoring drive and gave Los Angeles an opportunity to again pull even. But alas, after another turnover, an Oakland defense that enjoyed one of its best efforts of the year turned in another stop.
The accomplishments of Oakland’s defense did little to inspire Carr and Oakland’s offense, though, as the unit managed just 17 yards on its next two drives, both of which resulted in three-and-outs.
After Los Angeles quarterback Philip Rivers found Gordon on a six-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to give the Chargers a 14-10 lead, it appeared as a strong defensive effort wouldn’t be enough to overcome a disappointing outing from Carr and the Raiders’ offense.
However, all was saved on Oakland’s next drive, as receiver Cordarrelle Patterson took a jet sweep handoff from Carr and raced 47 yards to the end zone to give the Raiders late life, a late lead and a glimmer of hope that in week six, all would not be lost.
After a missed extra point set an ominous tone for the remainder of the game, it was Los Angeles that worked the clock and capitalized, and Oakland that left the Coliseum wondering how exactly its season fell off the rails.