Derek Carr said he wanted to take the "last shot," so to speak, in last Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Cowboys.
Despite the disastrous result, he said he'd try the same thing again.
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Carr's last shot came on a scramble with 39 seconds remaining in the game. He attempted to stretch the ball across the pylon, but fumbled the ball out of the end zone. The Cowboys took possession, and the victory, dropping the Raiders to 6-8.
"We talk about ball security, jumping with two hands, stuff like that ... I honestly didn't think I was going to drop the ball," Carr said Friday (via ESPN.com). "When I took off to jump, in my head I thought it was a touchdown because I knew I had the corner. From a mindset standpoint, looking back, yeah, I want to do something different because we lost. But from making that decision, I always think of it in basketball terms — I'd rather take the last shot and miss it than pass it off and try and do it another way."
Derek Carr just needed the first down pic.twitter.com/mTxXrEdGkl
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 18, 2017
If Carr had played it safe, the Raiders might have reached the end zone on a subsequent play — he'd picked up enough yardage for a first down — or at least had a chance to kick a field goal to tie the score. Then again, hindsight is everything. If Carr scores the touchdown, he's a hero. He didn't, which explains why he had to describe his thought process.
Carr said he has no regrets, and he'd try the same thing again … but maybe with more focus on ball security.
"From a competitive standpoint, I'd try it, but with better technique, two hands, I don't know, but something to where we don't lose the game," Carr said. "But from making that decision, I think I'd go for it again."