Raiders’ Carr, Waller do damage against Vikings but lament the one that got away
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MINNEAPOLIS — Once he has some time to think about it, Raiders’ tight end Darren Waller will see the positive in a near record-setting performance against the Minnesota Vikings.
But in the immediate aftermath of a 34-14 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium, Waller was ruminating about the one ball he didn’t catch from Derek Carr rather than the 13 receptions for 134 yards that made for a gaudy stat sheet.
“That’s points right there, we could have gone into the half with momentum,” Waller said. “I look at me first, and there are plenty of things I could have done better.”
Darren Waller needs to make this catch but Derek Carr also needs better ball placement. Waller had plenty of room to run if the pass is accurate. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/SxLYYgVlpc
— Chris Reed (@ChrisReed_NFL) September 22, 2019
The Raiders trailed 21-0 before even getting Waller involved, catching passes of 30 and 9 yards on consecutive plays in a drive that ended with with Carr’s 29-yard flea flicker touchdown pass to J.J. Nelson.
When the Raiders got the ball back again, they had a third-and-6 at the Vikings 48-yard line. Carr had Waller open at around the 30-yard with 1:20 to go in the first half. The pass was a little high. Waller adjusted somewhat awkwardly for the ball. It hit him in the hands and bounced to the ground.
The Raiders ended up punting.
Asked if he thought he should have made the catch, Waller said, “Absolutely. There’s no question. My trainer from back home texted me. I need to do pushups. Pushups for all drops. It absolutely should have been caught.”
Carr accepted his share of the blame.
“If it hits their hands, they always say, ‘That’s my fault,'” Carr said. “But man, I could have thrown an easier pass, right? At the end of the day, it was incomplete.”
It was the closest thing to a turning point in a one-sided loss.
“We’re going into their territory. You go to 21-14 — after how we started — you think, ‘OK, we’re back into it and we’re about to get the ball back (to start the second half),'” Carr said. “A play like that, Darren and I together, we’ll be better.”
The 13 receptions by Waller is one shy of the Raiders team record of 14 by Tim Brown (1997) and Brandon Myers 2012. The consistent hookups were in part because Waller is supremely gifted, but also due to Minnesota playing a Cover 2 zone and a lead and relinquishing short and intermediate routes to force the Raiders to burn clock time.
D-Wall stays hauling them in. #OAKvsMIN pic.twitter.com/S4AoBvk70e
— Oakland Raiders (@Raiders) September 22, 2019
Carr finished 25 of 32 for 242 yards, two touchdowns and one bad interception — an overthrow to Foster Moreau that went directly to Harrison Smith and set up the score that put Minnesota up 21-0.
At the time of the interception, Carr was 3 of 4 for 4 yards. Coincidence or not, Carr picked up at least some semblance of rhythm after the mistake.
“I kind of got pissed at myself,” Carr said. “Maybe I’ve got to do that at the beginning . . . not throw the pick. On that one, I’m about to throw it to Foster, a guy undercuts it and I’m trying to be perfect and place it in a perfect spot rather than just throw the ball away. I overthrow it and it’s an interception.
“I had a terrible play, a bad rep. When you look at the whole math, I felt like I competed, saw things pretty well, especially against that defense. It was not good enough, though, to get a win.”
In the second half, the Vikings made the Raiders earn every yard they got. One 13-play, 42-yard drive in the fourth quarter ate up over six minutes of clock time. And it ended when Daniel Carlson hit the upright with a 50-yard field goal attempt and the Raiders trailing 31-7.
Waller, who leads the Raiders with 26 receptions for 267 yards as the replacement for Jared Cook, realizes he’s making progress.
“Just playing football. I don’t try to make it too much more than that,” Waller said. “The scoreboard is there, but at end it’s just football from play to play and once you get in a groove it’s fun. It’s about doing the job to the best of your ability. There’s a lot of things you can’t control and I’m just trying to control what I can.”
Given that Tyrell Williams is the Raiders second-leading receiver with 14 catches, Waller has emerged as Carr’s go-to target.
“I want to praise this guy as much as I can because the guy literally blocks Everson Griffen, he blocks (Danielle) Hunter, he’s in there blocking these guys, and then he’s out there running routes on Trae Waynes, (Eric) Kendricks and (Harrison) Smith. You’re like, `Bro, what can’t you do?’ I don’t think enough kids are wearing his jersey, that’s for sure.”