Raiders News: Derek Carr Praises Offensive Line Despite Loss To Buccaneers

The Las Vegas Raiders came back down to earth after their bye week when they suffered a 45-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tom Brady proved he still has something left in the tank after torching the Raiders defense to the tune of 369 passing yards and five total touchdowns.

However, the story heading into the matchup was the Las Vegas offensive line as they had little time to prepare with most of them being forced to quarantine after right tackle Trent Brown tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). To make matters worse, backup Sam Young was had to exit the game due to a knee injury, while Gabe Jackson was ejected in the third quarter.

Despite all the issues, Derek Carr was still complimentary of his offensive line, via Levi Edwards of Raiders.com:

“I want to say how proud I am of that offensive line, not just the starters, but the backups also for the week they had,” said Carr after his 100th career start. “Football is a game that needs to be practiced, football is a game of team, and when you don’t have all your guys out there, it’s tough throughout the week.

“Very proud of them for how they played coming in against multiple fronts, multiple blitz operation that (the Buccaneers) are and being able to play the way they played. They did a fantastic job.”

Carr ended the day with a respectable 284 passing yards and two touchdowns while also adding 19 rushing yards despite getting sacked three times. The offensive line has been a strength for the Raiders the past couple of seasons, and they performed admirably in what was already a tough test.

While Carr had a solid outing, the same could not be said for Josh Jacobs, who finished with only 17 rushing yards on 10 attempts to go along with three receptions for 14 yards. Tampa Bay has a stout defensive line and Las Vegas was unable to get any push up front to give Jacobs much room to run.

There is room for optimism that the Silver and Black can bounce back and should have a better outing in Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns, who just lost star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for the year. Hopefully a game against the Browns is what gets the Raiders back on trac even if the status of Brown and starting left guard Richie Incognito remain uncertain.