PHILADELPHIA — Derek Carr got paid a lot of money to make plays he couldn’t against the Philadelphia Eagles on a national stage.
Hurried and harassed for much of Monday night, Carr made poor decisions, ill-advised throws and struggled in tough, windy conditions. With the game on the line, his second interception led to a go-ahead field goal in Oakland’s 19-10 loss.
It wasn’t all his fault, of course. A banged-up offensive line missing Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn didn’t give him much time, wide receiver Michael Crabtree was invisible and both running backs lost fumbles.
“Football is a team game. There’s no ‘our side played well.’ We win or lose as a team,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “Both quarterbacks had a hard time throwing it. I don’t think either passing game lit it up.”
Carr was 15 of 29 for 140 yards with one touchdown and two picks. Philadelphia’s Nick Foles was 19 of 38 for 163 yards, one TD and one interception.
“I will always continue to look at myself first and try and fix what I can fix and try and help those I can along the way,” Carr said.
For Carr, it has been a disappointing season.
The Raiders began the year with Super Bowl aspirations after going 12-4 in 2016. But they’ve been inconsistent all season and Carr has regressed following a breakout year.
“You have to work hard when it gets tough,” Carr said. “When things get tough, a lot of people point fingers. I’ve tried my best every single time to stand up here, be a man and just take it. That’s who I am, that’s how I was raised and I’ll always be that way. So when it gets hard, I fight. Nothing is going to change. Hopefully the results change. But I’m going to keep fighting. I’ve been 0-10, I’ve been in sucky situations, I’ve been through hard times in life more so than football. We’re going to come out of it. I’m gonna work my tail off to correct it.”
Carr led the Raiders to seven comeback wins last season and threw for 3,937 yards and 28 touchdowns with only six interceptions before breaking a leg in the next-to-last game of the year.
He was rewarded with a $125 million, five-year contract in the offseason that briefly made him the NFL’s highest-paid player. But his performance hasn’t matched his pay check.
Carr has 21 TD passes and 12 picks, matching his totals from his rookie season in 2014.
“We can look at the good times we had a year ago and the hard times we had this year and lay out the plan and ask what was different,” Carr said.
