Derek Carr’s 21 TDs in 2014

3-5-NYJ 12 (Q1, 2:48) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short right to 80-R.Streater for 12 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

This is a pretty simple play for Carr. All he has to do is get the ball out immediately at the snap. It’s a good throw that hits Streater in stride and he takes it in for Carr’s first TD pass of his career.

1-10-NYJ 30 (Q4, 1:27) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass deep right to 89-J.Jones for 30 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

At this point, it’s very late in the game. The Raiders were down 12. They’d need to score two TDs while recovering an onside kick to win. The Raiders come out in 11 personnel with all four route runners going at least 10 yards downfield. Pre snap, you can see that the Jets are set up to have one deep safety, and he is shaded over to the left side of the field. This gives Jones a 1-on-1 with the outside corner, and Carr took his chance on first down. The left guard gets beaten soundly, but Carr is gets the ball out well before the pressure is an issue. The throw is very good. It is in stride with Jones, and gives him enough room to get his feet down. By nature this is a 50-50 throw, and Carr’s trust in Jones to bring the ball down pays off.

1-9-HOU 9 (Q4, :17) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short left to 89-J.Jones for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

This throw has a lot of common with the last one. The game is a little more out of reach in this case, but it’s still a 50-50 ball on a fade route. There’s more imminent pressure this time, and Carr is forced to throw off of his back foot. On this kind of throw you want a high trajectory to give your receiver a chance to get under the ball and make a play by beating the DB. Jones is able to do this once again.

2-3-MIA 3 (Q1, 9:43) 4-D.Carr pass short middle to 87-B.Leonhardt for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

This play has Carr do kind of a truncated rollout, but you can definitely tell he’s supposed to roll out because all of the routes are going in that direction. Carr finds Leonhardt on a crossing route with a step on the LB and he throws it in there for the TD. This is a pretty standard throw near the goal line.

3-7-OAK 23 (Q1, 14:18) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass deep middle to 18-A.Holmes for 77 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

On third down, the Raiders are running a rub route to the bottom of the screen. The hope is that the DBs will have to move to avoid each other, which is what happens. The Chargers are in cover zero at the snap, and while Weddle rotates deep after it, he is drawn up again but an uncovered receiver. This leaves Holmes in a one-on-one, and because the rub disrupted the CB, he now has a clear path to the endzone. Carr sees this happening and puts up a great throw that hits Holmes in stride. After that, it’s a sprint to the endzone for a TD.

3-4-SD 6 (Q2, 7:30) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short middle to 89-J.Jones for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

The Raiders run three routes to the middle of the endzone, hoping to draw coverage to get one of their guys open. It works, and Carr has room to throw to Jones on the inside of the LB. It’s good ball placement on a relatively easy throw.

3-3-SD 47 (Q3, 7:48) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short left to 12-B.Butler for 47 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

On this play the Raiders give Carr a nice clean pocket and Butler jukes Shareece Wright out of his shoes. This makes the throw very easy for Carr. It’s a long TD on the stat sheet but Butler did most of the work.

2-6-SD 6 (Q4, 10:06) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short right to 18-A.Holmes for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

On the rollout, Carr shows very good patience. He doesn’t try to force a throw in and waits for quite a while before Holmes pops open in the back of the endzone. Then, he rifles the ball in for a TD. The Chargers defense just lost track of Holmes.

3-10-CLE 10 (Q4, :12) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short left to 18-A.Holmes for 10 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

This throw is just as easy as the first one. All Carr has to do is deliver the pass on target, which he does.

4-1-SEA 1 (Q3, 3:04) (Shotgun) 4-D.Carr pass short right to 81-M.Rivera for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

This play is similar to play 8, but the difficulty is ramped up. First, there’s a defender in Carr’s face right away so he has to fade away from the throw. The Seahawks’ defense does mess up, as four defenders go after the underneath route and no one follows Rivera, but Sherman recovers and makes the throw even more difficult. Carr lobs the ball up in the right place and Rivera goes up and makes the catch. Good play by both players.

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