5 bold predictions for Raiders against Steelers
By John Buhler
2. Derek Carr will not throw for over 400 yards, but that is actually a good thing
I am not saying bet your next paycheck on Derek Carr to throw for under 400 yards, but I am also not saying that. Carr threw the ball 56 times for 435 yards, two touchdowns and one terrible interception. Though he outshined his counterpart Jackson when his team needed him the most, the Raiders are not beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh if he throws the football over 50 times.
Given that Las Vegas would probably prefer to hand the ball off to Jacobs and Kenyan Drake a bunch to win a low-scoring game, that will go a long way towards Carr not having back-to-back games of 400 yards passing. While he have come a long way from him being a bit of Captain Checkdown earlier in his career, not turning the ball over is paramount if the Raiders want to win.
Overall, Carr will probably be cool with this. Every team in the AFC West won in Week 1, so the Silver and Black need to keep pace with the Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers in what could be a tighter divisional race than we expected. Again, Carr can have another strong game, but he will not throw for over 400 yards by any stretch of the imagination.
While he can eclipse 300 yards passing en route to victory, balance is what will serve the Raiders.