The Oakland Raiders are off to a rough start to the 2018 season having won just one of their first six games that put him a tough spot.Much of the criticism has been tossed toward the play of Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Carr, who has struggled over the last couple of weeks to produce.
With that in mind, head coach Jon Gruden has voiced much support for Carr while stating that his success lies directly with helping the 27-year-old perform to his capabilities on the field, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic.
Gruden on Derek Carr: "He is the strength of this football team. He is on my watch. I said it when I got here, if he doesn't play well, I've failed." #Raiders
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) October 16, 2018
It has been anything but promising this season for the Raiders in the offensive system in the first year under Jon Gruden. Derek Carr has struggled to find his footing despite holding a career-high 71.7 percent completion rate and 1,783 passing yards as he has thrown more interceptions (eight) than touchdown passes (seven) while also committing a pair of fumbles. He has had much trouble leading the Raiders toward putting points on the board ranking 28th with just 18.3 points per contest.
The Raiders have notched 20 or fewer points in all but one game this season that has been the case in the last two games combining for just 13 points in a pair of blowout losses. These issues appear to have mounted following a discouraging 27-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks where career completed 23-of-31 passes for a season-low 145 yards just 4.6 yards per attempt while orchestrating just one scoring drive in the loss.
It hasn't been anywhere near what the Raiders anticipated as Carr has been operating with largely short throws that have limited the teams' ability to move the ball down the field. There is still time for Oakland to turn things around as the Week 7 bye has come at an opportune time for the franchise to get on track toward finishing out the rest of the season strong.
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