Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had been having a career year entering Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Carr had completed over 70 percent of his pass attempts for 19 touchdowns and just three interceptions, and he had torched the Kansas City Chiefs for three scores the week prior.
Surely the 29-year-old would keep the momentum rolling against an underwhelming Falcons secondary, right? Well, no.
Carr had a woeful performance in Atlanta, losing three fumbles and having an interception returned for a touchdown en route to a 43-6 drubbing.
The former second-round pick apologized to the fans after the game, calling his own performance “trash” and saying he made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes:
“I have to make the corrections,” Carr said, via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “There were two or three throws where it was just like, ‘I don’t do that.“ But I have to live with that all week. That’s what I learned today.”
Carr suggested two of the fumbles were the result of him being blindsided, which is true. Nevertheless, the turnovers totally changed the tone of the game.
Carr's first fumble came on the first play of the Raiders' second drive of the game, resulting in a field goal for Atlanta. Las Vegas got a field goal before Atlanta answered with a long touchdown drive to make it a 13-3 game.
But the Raiders had a drive of their own, bringing the ball to Atlanta's own 30-yard line before Carr coughed up the ball yet again. The Falcons got three more points, then scored early in the third quarter on the pick-six. The route was on from there.
Las Vegas has now lost two straight coming off a three-game winning streak. Carr and the Raiders will hope to stop the bleeding next weekend against the New York Jets.
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