Derek Carr Grows Up in Week 2 Win over Baltimore Ravens

The Oakland Raiders didn’t know who’d start at quarterback after Derek Carr bruised his hand in the regular-season opener.

Days later, Carr took 99 percent of the snaps during practice. In a press conference, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said Carr's throws improved from Wednesday to Thursday, which increased his chances of retaining his starting position.

In addition to Carr’s hand injury, his underwhelming performance in a quarter and a half led to the idea of possibly starting backup quarterback Matt McGloin. Some fans wanted to see McGloin under center after a full week of practice. 

Some analysts justified the substitution with their own opinions. Carr quickly dropped from potential franchise quarterback to disappointing game manager.

Nonetheless, he worked hard at practice and delivered his best performance as a starter to date with a career high of 351 passing yards.

According to CSNBayArea.com reporter Scott Bair, the fault of Carr's critical interception falls partially on the offensive line and not a terribly underthrown pass:

It’s really not important to quibble over whom to fault for a bad pass, but it’s important to note the outcome. In this particular case, Carr put an exclamation point on a thrilling game and solid performance under center:

In that one play, the supporters for McGloin faded and the confidence in Carr returned. This is just one game, but this one counts against a heavily favored formidable opponent. The outcome of this Raiders victory caused NFL analysts to see Carr and a hapless Raiders team in a different light:

The Raiders still have a few steps to climb before officially coming of age, but the team has a quarterback with the tools to lead an offense—both on and off the field.

On the surface, Carr steps up to the podium and says all the right things. The way he talks to the media and practices oozes leadership.

After the Week 2 victory, Carr spoke about his mindset in the huddle during that final drive. He compared the drive to practice in terms of execution.

The setting at practice significantly differs from trying to dissect the Ravens defense, but Carr successfully replicated the execution from the low-pressure setting to put the offense at ease.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The rising criticism in Carr's play focused on his pocket presence. Is he too skittish in a crowded pocket? Does he checkdown too quickly? Can he read a defense and make pre-snap adjustments?

Carr answered some of those criticisms with his performance Sunday—at least momentarily. He made adjustments at the line of scrimmage, stood tall in the pocket and delivered passes to 10 different receivers.

The second-year quarterback continues to progress and learn from his mistakes. He opted to simply run out of bounds on a 24-yard run instead of using his throwing hand to stiff arm a defender. 

An early drive into the red zone halted at the five-yard line, but the game-winning drive resulted in a pass from Baltimore’s 12-yard line with a safe throw to the No. 3 receiver over the middle. Carr didn’t laser lock onto his top target and attempt to deliver a predetermined pass. He didn’t allow a big moment to eat him alive.

Raiders brass made a concerted effort to surround the quarterback with offensive skill players to maximize his potential.

Carr provided a glimpse of the high-powered offense the front office envisioned when signing wide receiver Michael Crabtree and drafting wide receiver Amari Cooper as the fourth overall pick in the draft.

Normally, coaching staffs allow quarterbacks two to three seasons to develop.

Carr enters his second year learning his second offense and managed to outduel a far more experienced Super Bowl quarterback playing with a solid defense. He’s earned a fair shot at leading the Raiders offense in the short term.

Carr has plenty of boxes to check off in terms of becoming the franchise quarterback, but leading the Raiders to their first set of back-to-back victories creates another bullet point for that conversation.

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All statistics are provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted. 

Week 2 statistics and play-by-play analysis provided by NFL.com.