Carr, Raiders Shut Down In 19-14 Loss To Jets
Derek Carr held his own for two quarters, looking as though just maybe he could help end the Oakland Raiders' woes in the East.
Then came the second half, and a familiar result.
Chris Ivory had a 71-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, and the Jets' swarming defense mostly clamped down on Carr as New York won 19-14 on Sunday to send Oakland to its 14th straight loss in the Eastern time zone.
"I have to do a better job of making the correct calls," Carr said. "You can put it all on me. I'm going to work my tail off to fix these things."
It wasn't all Carr's fault, of course. The Raiders' second-round draft pick made it close with a 30-yard touchdown pass to James Jones, who made a leaping grab over Darrin Walls with 1:21 left — giving Oakland one last chance.
But Greg Salas recovered the Raiders' onside kick try, sealing it for the Jets.
"Tough loss on the road," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "Not the way we wanted to start our season."
With the game still in the balance, Ivory rushed up the middle and appeared stopped. He broke through a few would-be tacklers and took off into the end zone to put New York up 19-7 with 8:03 left. A pass on a 2-point conversion failed.
"He came through there when it looked like we had him bottled up," safety Charles Woodson said. "He was able to slip through a few tackles and then it was off to the races."
Carr was mostly solid in the first half, but the Jets pressured him throughout the final two quarters. He finished 20 of 32 for 151 yards, with touchdowns to Jones and Rod Streater. Carr got the nod over veteran Matt Schaub and became Oakland's 18th starting quarterback since the start of the 2003 season.
"I don't think the game was too big for him," Allen said. "Overall, I saw some positive signs, some things that he did well. Obviously, I saw some mistakes."
Ryan improved to 8-1 against rookie quarterbacks making their first appearance against his Jets defense, which held the Raiders to 158 total yards.
With the Jets leading 10-7, the defense came out roaring to start the second half, holding the Raiders to minus-3 yards in the third quarter.
The Raiders flew to New Jersey on Thursday, a day earlier than usual, to prepare for their second straight opener in the Eastern time zone. It didn't help.
"I don't know what to think right now," Woodson said. "I thought we had a great game plan coming in and I felt like we could get this win on the road. It didn't happen."
Geno Smith was shaky early with an interception and lost fumble. But he threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson, finishing 23 of 28 for 221 yards in his second straight opening-week start.
Ivory finished with 102 yards on 10 carries, while Johnson had 68 yards rushing in his Jets debut and caught five passes for 23 yards.
But Rex Ryan wasn't thrilled, particularly because of his team's 11 penalties.
"This game should've been a rat kill," Ryan said. "It wasn't."
The Jets were fired up by comments made by former right tackle Austin Howard, saying the Raiders would push around his ex-teammates.
"They certainly did that, to the tune of 25 yards rushing," Ryan said sarcastically. "And they gave up (212) rushing."
Darren McFadden had just 15 yards on four carries, while Maurice Jones-Drew had 11 on nine rushes.
"I thought they won the line of scrimmage battle," Allen said. "And, really, without watching the tape, I think they were able to win the line of scrimmage battle on both sides of the football."
NOTES: The Raiders fell to 0-3 in season openers under Allen, while Ryan is 5-1 with the Jets. ... Woodson joined Darrell Green (19) as the only players with an INT in at least 17 consecutive seasons. ... The Raiders' 158 yards were their fewest since getting 124 against the Giants in 2009.