Nov 8, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; The Pittsburgh Steelers offense lines up against the Oakland Raiders defense during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s face it. The Oakland Raiders gave away their Week Nine game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dropped passes, fumbles, and missed tackles all had their place in the tough loss. Most troubling is how Oakland’s defense gave away the game. They blew it on a something they haven’t actually had much of a problem with this season: big plays.

Don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom. The Raiders lost on a last second field goal against a top tier QB and an all-world performance by Antonio Brown. There’s every reason to believe that they can bounce back from this rather quickly.

One major reason to believe in Oakland’s recovery is quarterback Derek Carr. Despite the loss, Carr’s play against Pittsburgh was nothing short of elite. While 24 of 44 passing doesn’t look amazing, the 4 TDs to 1 INT looks great, especially considering the yardage and completions lost to the 4 drops.

Sometimes you need to look beyond the stats. Carr’s pocket play and decision making were spectacular enough to earn him the title of Pro Football Focus’s top QB of Week 9. I’ll be the first to get on Derek Carr for staring down receivers, a problem he still has, but he’s doing a dramatically better job of not throwing to that receiver if said receiver is covered. Meanwhile, Carr’s ability to use his feet to buy another second for his receivers to get open (whether scrambling outside or stepping into the pocket) has become a major asset of his. His poise in the pocket is light-years ahead of where it was last season. He is making big throws, under pressure, when certain contact is on the way, on a consistent basis.

Amari Cooper. Dropped passes. There’s nothing surprising about this because Cooper had the same problem at Alabama. Still, it’s mind blowing because he can make difficult catches all day, while he drops easy ones. He’s already an excellent receiver, but if he can eliminate these easy drops he can start threatening some of these top five receivers in the league.

For the film breakdown, this week we’ll focus on the big plays they gave up. First up, the deep pass.